HARRISBURG, Pa. — Republican Kevin Brobson was elected Tuesday to serve on Pennsylvania’s highest court, leaving it with a 5-to-2 Democratic majority.
The Commonwealth Court Judge Brobson defeated Superior Court Judge Maria McLaughlin. He’ll take the seat being vacated by the mandatory retirement of Republican Justice Thomas Saylor.
Brobson lives in suburban Harrisburg and has spent more than a decade on Commonwealth Court.
His more high-profile cases include a congressional redistricting decision that was promptly overturned by the Democratic majority Supreme Court in 2018.
The state Supreme Court has been at the center of major political disputes in recent years, handling cases over the hotly contested 2020 presidential election as well as the legality of how Gov. Tom Wolf used his authority to respond to the global pandemic.
In Pittsburgh, Democrat Ed Gainey became the first Black mayor of Pennsylvania’s second-most populous city, shouting to a crowd of cheering supporters a message of unity and that they were “one city, one Pittsburgh.”
Counties were wrapping up their vote counts in the hours after polls closed, but it was too early to call some statewide races before 1 a.m. Wednesday.
In a race for a seat on Superior Court, former Chester County and state prosecutor Megan Sullivan, a Republican, beat Democrat Timika Lane, a Philadelphia judge. The court handles appeals from county courts in criminal and civil cases.
Two seats were open on Commonwealth Court, and Republican Stacy Wallace, a lawyer from Bradford County, won one of the seats as the top vote-getter of four candidates. The court handles cases involving state government and local governments.
Election officials reported no significant problems while turnout was expected to hit 25% to 30% of registered voters.
The Democrats seeking the seat are Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Lori Dumas and Allegheny County Common Pleas Court Judge David Spurgeon. The other Republican is Drew Crompton, a former Senate GOP aide running for a permanent spot on the court after being appointed to it temporarily last year.
Four statewide judges appeared likely to keep their seat on the bench for 10 more years in up-or-down “retention” races: Superior Court judges John Bender and Mary Jane Bowes and Commonwealth Court judges Anne Covey and Renee Cohn Jubelirer.
The judges who win could end up ruling in an array of high-profile cases pending in state courts, from abortion rights to public school funding to whether the state’s mail-in voting law is constitutional.
The most notable of the state’s mayoral contests was in Pittsburgh, where Gainey, a five-term state House member, became the city’s first African-American mayor after being heavily favored against Republican Tony Moreno.
“Look at the image we are showing our children,” Gainey, in a hoarse voice, shouted to the celebrating crowd at the downtown Benedum Center for the Performing Arts. “I want our children to see a city for all of them.”
In Scranton, Democrat Paige Cognetti declared victory for a second term and, in Harrisburg, Democrat Wanda Williams declared victory over Mayor Eric Papenfuse, who lost to Williams in the primary and ran as a write-in candidate. Results were not yet official in those races.
In Philadelphia, Democrat Larry Krasner won another term as district attorney, beating high-profile criminal defense lawyer Chuck Peruto, the Republican nominee, and getting the go-ahead to continue his progressive overhaul of the office.
Democrats won two special elections for open seats in Democratic-leaning districts in the state House of Representatives. Thom Welby won an open Scranton-area seat, while Gina Curry won the other in Delaware County.
For many voters, local races on the ballot Tuesday are the major attraction, contests that include county judge, district attorney, school board, district judge, mayor and city council.