Overview
- Voters on Nov. 4 will decide whether to retain Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty, and David Wecht for new terms on Pennsylvania’s highest court.
- If all three are rejected, the seven-member court would drop to four members split by party, increasing 2–2 deadlocks and slowing statewide precedent-setting rulings.
- State law allows the governor to nominate temporary replacements until 2027, but confirmations require a two‑thirds vote in the Republican-controlled Senate, a process that stalled after Justice Max Baer’s 2022 death.
- Democrats and allied groups are centering abortion access, election rules, and redistricting in their pitch to voters, warning of potential effects on 2026 litigation and future presidential election disputes.
- Conservative donors and activists, including a Jeff Yass–backed network and Scott Presler, have invested heavily, while the DNC, DLCC, ACLU, and others have funded ads; the Inquirer and bar associations urge retention of the three justices.