Capital-Star Q&A: DNC Chair Ken Martin says Pa. Supreme Court election stakes are high
As torrential rain fell in Philadelphia Thursday morning, Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin was preparing to rally labor and ward leaders for a get out the vote campaign in support of three state Supreme Court justices seeking second terms.
Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht were elected as Democrats to the commonwealth’s top court in 2015. Under the state constitution, they must win voters’ approval to stay on the bench in a nonpartisan “yes” or “no” retention election. If they’re not retained, their seats would be open in a competitive 2027 Supreme Court election.
Reflecting a national trend toward more politicized judicial elections across the country, as-yet untold amounts of third-party money are flooding the airwaves, internet and mailboxes with ads. They urge Pennsylvanians either to keep Donohue, Dougherty and Wecht as reliable guardians of fundamental rights or to cast them out as activist judges legislating from the bench.
In an interview with the Capital-Star, Martin said lavish spending in judicial campaigns, such as the $30 million that Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, poured into last year’s Wisconsin Supreme Court election, polarizes what historically have been nonpartisan elections. Martin describes it as an effort by conservatives to buy court seats in an end run on democracy.
https://penncapital-star.com/campaigns-elections/capital-star-qa-dnc-chair-ken-martin-says-pa-supreme-court-election-stakes-are-high/