Statewide primary elections for various state offices were held in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on May 15, 2007.[1] Pennsylvania's general elections were then held statewide on November 6, 2007.[2]

Justice of the Supreme Court

2007 Pennsylvania Supreme Court election
November 6, 2007
2 seats of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
  Majority party Minority party
 
Candidate Seamus McCaffery
Debra Todd		 Maureen Lally-Green
Mike Krancer
Party Democratic Republican
Last election 3 4
Seats won 2 0
Seat change Increase 1 Decrease 1
Popular vote 2,317,815 1,778,395
Percentage 56.58% 43.42%

Two seats were open on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, after Justice Russell Nigro, a Democrat, and Justice Sandra Schultz Newman, a Republican, vacated their seats. Justice Nigro vacated his seat on December 31, 2005, after failing to be retained for an additional 10-year term.[3] Justice Schultz Newman, unlike her counterpart, did succeed in being retained to an additional 10-year term in 2005, but decided to retire on December 31, 2006.[4] Governor Ed Rendell appointed Justice Cynthia Baldwin,[5] a Democrat, and Justice James Fitzgerald,[6] a Republican,[7] to fill the vacancies of Justice Nigro and Justice Schultz Newman, respectively. Neither incumbent Justice sought reelection.

The election of Justices McCaffery and Todd, flipped the Supreme Court from a 4–3 Republican majority to a 4–3 Democratic majority.[8]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary results (vote for 2)[10]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Debra Todd 515,909 35.68%
Democratic Seamus McCaffery 452,662 31.31%
Democratic C. Darnell Jones 261,200 18.07%
Democratic Willis W. Berry 216,033 14.94%
Total votes 1,445,804 100.0%

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary results (vote for 2)[10]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Maureen E. Lally-Green 530,827 42.37%
Republican Mike Krancer 459,990 36.71%
Republican Paul P. Panepinto 262,090 20.92%
Total votes 1,252,907 100.0%

General election

Results

2007 Pennsylvania Supreme Court election (vote for 2)[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Seamus McCaffery 1,233,265 30.11%
Democratic Debra Todd 1,084,550 26.48%
Republican Maureen Lally-Green 994,760 24.28%
Republican Mike Krancer 783,635 19.13%
Total votes 4,096,210 100.0%
Democratic hold
Democratic gain from Republican

Judge of the Superior Court

2009 Pennsylvania Superior Court election
November 6, 2007
3 seats of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania
  Majority party Minority party
 
Candidate Christine Donohue
Ron Folino
John Younge		 Cheryl Lynn Allen
Jacqueline Shogan
Bruce Bratton
Party Democratic Republican
Last election 6 9
Seats won 1 2
Seat change Steady Steady
Popular vote 2,882,451 2,779,274
Percentage 50.91% 49.09%

Initially, there were only two seats open on the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. These seats were open due to the retirement of Judge Joseph A. Del Sole, a Democrat,[13] in September 2006, as well as the impending mandatory retirement of Judge Joseph A. Hudock, a Democrat,[14] on December 31, 2007. Judge Del Sole's seat was held by Judge Robert C. Daniels, a Republican[7] who was appointed by Governor Ed Rendell.[6] Judge Daniels did not run for re-election.

A third seat was on the November ballot because Judge Michael T. Joyce announced his retirement to be scheduled for January 2008 after being indicted by a grand jury for mail fraud and money laundering.[15] Since Judge Joyce announced his retirement after the May primary, the Democratic and Republican state committees nominated a third candidate at their respective party conventions. Jacqueline Shogan, a Pittsburgh attorney, was chosen as the Republican candidate, after facing opposition from state senator Jane Earll.[16] John Younge, a Judge on the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, was chosen as the Democratic nominee, facing no opposition.[16] Both Shogan and Younge had earlier lost the race for their respective nominations in the May primary.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary results (vote for 2)[10]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Christine Donohue 376,644 25.72%
Democratic Ron Folino 263,760 18.01%
Democratic Anne E. Lazarus 255,284 17.43%
Democratic Timothy J. McCormick 254,512 17.38%
Democratic John Milton Younge 124,474 8.50%
Democratic Jimmy Lynn 101,569 6.94%
Democratic Jame M. DeLeon 88,313 6.03%
Total votes 1,464,556 100.0%

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary results (vote for 2)[10]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Cheryl Lynn Allen 416,730 35.49%
Republican Bruce F. Bratton 383,444 32.66%
Republican Jacqueline O. Shogan 373,915 31.85%
Total votes 1,174,089 100.0%

General election

Results

2007 Pennsylvania Superior Court election (vote for 3)[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Christine Donohue 1,100,362 19.44%
Republican Jackie Shogan 974,748 17.22%
Republican Cheryl Lynn Allen 970,081 17.13%
Democratic Ron Folino 929,552 16.42%
Democratic John Younge 852,537 15.06%
Republican Bruce F. Bratton 834,445 14.74%
Total votes 5,661,725 100.0%
Democratic hold
Republican hold
Republican hold

Judicial retention

Supreme Court

Justice Thomas G. Saylor (R) retention, 2007
Choice Votes  %
Referendum passed Yes 1,184,546 66.89
No 586,330 33.11
Total votes 1,770,876 100.00
Source: PA Department of State[12]

Superior Court

Judge Joan Orie Melvin (R) retention, 2007
Choice Votes  %
Referendum passed Yes 1,157,431 67.02
No 569,538 32.98
Total votes 1,726,969 100.00
Source: PA Department of State[12]
Judge John L. Musmanno (D) retention, 2007
Choice Votes  %
Referendum passed Yes 1,048,803 62.06
No 641,302 37.94
Total votes 1,690,105 100.00
Source: PA Department of State[12]
Judge Correale F. Stevens (R) retention, 2007
Choice Votes  %
Referendum passed Yes 1,083,484 63.92
No 611,503 36.08
Total votes 1,694,987 100.00
Source: PA Department of State[12]

Commonwealth Court

Judge Bonnie B. Leadbetter (R) retention, 2007
Choice Votes  %
Referendum passed Yes 1,062,403 63.44
No 612,136 36.56
Total votes 1,674,539 100.00
Source: PA Department of State[12]
Judge Bernard L. McGinley (D) retention, 2007
Choice Votes  %
Referendum passed Yes 1,039,215 62.75
No 616,828 37.25
Total votes 1,656,043 100.00
Source: PA Department of State[12]
Judge Doris A. Smith-Ribner (D) retention, 2007
Choice Votes  %
Referendum passed Yes 1,051,793 62.90
No 620,319 37.10
Total votes 1,672,112 100.00
Source: PA Department of State[12]

References

  1. ↑ Commonwealth of PA - Elections Information
  2. ↑ Commonwealth of PA - Elections Information
  3. ↑ "Pennsylvania Ousts Supreme Court Justice". The New York Times. November 10, 2005.
  4. ↑ Bumsted, Brad (November 18, 2006). "Supreme Court justice plans to step down". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
  5. ↑ Nephin, Dan (December 17, 2005). "Judge Cynthia Baldwin gets nod for Pa. Supreme Court". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on December 19, 2023.
  6. 1 2 "State Senate approves two interim judicial nominees". Philadelphia Inquirer. March 29, 2007.
  7. 1 2 "Rendell loses showdown". The Mercury. May 16, 2008.
  8. ↑ Jackson, Peter (November 8, 2007). "McCaffery, Todd give Dems the high court". Philadelphia Inquirer.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Democratic high court hopefuls outline views ** Debra Todd, Seamus McCaffery, C. Darnell Jones, Willis Berry vying for two seats". The Morning Call. May 10, 2007.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "2007 Municipal Primary - Official Returns". Pennsylvania Department of State.
  11. 1 2 3 "GOP Supreme Court hopefuls sketch their beliefs ** Maureen Lally-Green, Michael L. Krancer, Paul Panepinto seek nod for a pair of seats". The Morning Call. May 9, 2007.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "2007 Municipal Election - Official Results". Pennsylvania Department of State.
  13. ↑ "Joseph A. Del Sole". OurCampaigns.
  14. ↑ "Joseph A. Hudock". OurCampaigns.
  15. ↑ "Superior Court losers may yet win". Philadelphia Inquirer. August 25, 2007.
  16. 1 2 Jackson, Peter (September 9, 2007). "Unusual process adds 2 to Superior Court ballot". Philadelphia Inquirer.
  17. ↑ "Political influence to be tested in courts primary". Pocono Record. May 14, 2007.
  18. ↑ "Christine L. Donohue - Personal Data Questionnaire" (PDF).
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "17 file for judgeship nominations in Pa". Philadelphia Inquirer. March 7, 2007.
  20. ↑ "Timothy J. McCormick- Personal Data Questionnaire" (PDF).
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