Overview
- Three Democratic justices — David Wecht, Christine Donohue and Kevin Dougherty — face yes-or-no retention votes on Nov. 4 that could end the court’s 5–2 Democratic majority.
- Justice Wecht warned that losing seats could produce a 2–2 bench that defers to lower courts and struggles to set statewide precedent, since four votes are needed to establish it.
- President Donald Trump urged Pennsylvanians to vote “NO, NO, NO” on retaining the justices, while Barack Obama and Gov. Josh Shapiro publicly called for “yes” votes.
- The contests, usually low profile, have drawn heavy outside spending and partisan messaging, including attacks tied to the court’s 2018 ruling striking down a GOP-drawn congressional map.
- If voters reject the justices and the Republican-controlled Senate blocks the governor’s temporary nominees, vacancies could persist into 2027; polls close at 8 p.m. ET and more than 571,000 absentee ballots had been returned as of Monday.