Three Democratic justices retain their seats on Pennsylvania Supreme Court

On Tuesday, Pennsylvania voters retained three Democratic state Supreme Court justices and the court’s 5-2 liberal majority.

Voters approved Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty, and David Wecht to each serve another term on the bench. AP News called the races at 9:56 p.m. EST. Donohue (2,188,525) and Dougherty (2,185,208) each received 61.5% yes votes while Wecht (2,167,454) garnered 61.2%. Each election has an estimated 98% of the vote counted as of 2:00 p.m. EST Wednesday.

Several traditionally conservative-voting counties in Pennsylvania, including Lancaster, Westmoreland and Columbia, voted to approve the justices, pointing to a Democratic shift in the country’s largest swing-state. President Donald Trump carried all three counties by double-digits in the 2024 presidential election. 

Dougherty and Wecht will serve 10-year terms, while Donohue will be forced to retire in 2027 when she reaches 75 years old, the mandatory retirement age for justices in Pennsylvania.

Had any of the three justices been rejected by voters, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) would have made a temporary appointment to fill the vacancy. The temporary appointments would have needed approval from the Republican-controlled state Senate before taking office. But with all three justices winning another term, the liberal majority on the state court will be preserved until at least 2027.

In recent years, the court has decided on several major issues including voting rights, abortion access and congressional redistricting. 

Donohue’s seat will be filled by an open election in 2027, while the seats held by Democratic Chief Justice Debra Todd and Republican Justice Sallie Updyke Mundy will also be up for reelection. 

With the victory, Democrats continued to overperform during Trump’s chaotic second term, including a prominent state Supreme Court win in Wisconsin in April and Abigail Spanberger’s (D) victory in Virginia’s gubernatorial race on Tuesday.