2007 Pennsylvania elections

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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]

Contents

Justice of the Supreme Court

2007 Pennsylvania Supreme Court election
Flag of Pennsylvania.svg
  2003 November 6, 2007 2009  

2 seats of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
 Majority partyMinority party
 
Candidate Seamus McCaffery
Debra Todd
Maureen Lally-Green
Mike Krancer
Party Democratic Republican
Last election34
Seats won20
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 1Decrease2.svg 1
Popular vote2,317,8151,778,395
Percentage56.58%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 Cynthia Baldwin, [5] a Democrat, and 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]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Debra Todd 515,909 35.68%
Democratic Seamus McCaffery 452,662 31.31%
Democratic C. Darnell Jones261,20018.07%
Democratic Willis W. Berry216,03314.94%
Total votes1,445,804 100.0%

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary results (vote for 2) [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Maureen E. Lally-Green 530,827 42.37%
Republican Mike Krancer 459,990 36.71%
Republican Paul P. Panepinto262,09020.92%
Total votes1,252,907 100.0%

General election

Results

2007 Pennsylvania Supreme Court election (vote for 2) [12]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Seamus McCaffery 1,233,265 30.11%
Democratic Debra Todd 1,084,550 26.48%
Republican Maureen Lally-Green 994,76024.28%
Republican Mike Krancer783,63519.13%
Total votes4,096,210 100.0%
Democratic hold
Democratic gain from Republican

Judge of the Superior Court

2009 Pennsylvania Superior Court election
Flag of Pennsylvania.svg
  2003 November 6, 2007 2009  

3 seats of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania
 Majority partyMinority party
 
Candidate Christine Donohue
Ron Folino
John Younge
Cheryl Lynn Allen
Jacqueline Shogan
Bruce Bratton
Party Democratic Republican
Last election69
Seats won12
Seat changeSteady2.svgSteady2.svg
Popular vote2,882,4512,779,274
Percentage50.91%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]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Christine Donohue 376,644 25.72%
Democratic Ron Folino 263,760 18.01%
Democratic Anne E. Lazarus255,28417.43%
Democratic Timothy J. McCormick254,51217.38%
Democratic John Milton Younge124,4748.50%
Democratic Jimmy Lynn101,5696.94%
Democratic Jame M. DeLeon88,3136.03%
Total votes1,464,556 100.0%

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary results (vote for 2) [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Cheryl Lynn Allen 416,730 35.49%
Republican Bruce F. Bratton 383,444 32.66%
Republican Jacqueline O. Shogan373,91531.85%
Total votes1,174,089 100.0%

General election

Results

2007 Pennsylvania Superior Court election (vote for 3) [12]
PartyCandidateVotes%
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 Folino929,55216.42%
Democratic John Younge 852,53715.06%
Republican Bruce F. Bratton834,44514.74%
Total votes5,661,725 100.0%
Democratic hold
Republican hold
Republican hold

Judicial retention

Supreme Court

Justice Thomas G. Saylor (R) retention, 2007
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes1,184,54666.89
No586,33033.11
Total votes1,770,876100.00
Source: PA Department of State [12]

Superior Court

Judge Joan Orie Melvin (R) retention, 2007
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes1,157,43167.02
No569,53832.98
Total votes1,726,969100.00
Source: PA Department of State [12]
Judge John L. Musmanno (D) retention, 2007
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes1,048,80362.06
No641,30237.94
Total votes1,690,105100.00
Source: PA Department of State [12]
Judge Correale F. Stevens (R) retention, 2007
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes1,083,48463.92
No611,50336.08
Total votes1,694,987100.00
Source: PA Department of State [12]

Commonwealth Court

Judge Bonnie B. Leadbetter (R) retention, 2007
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes1,062,40363.44
No612,13636.56
Total votes1,674,539100.00
Source: PA Department of State [12]
Judge Bernard L. McGinley (D) retention, 2007
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes1,039,21562.75
No616,82837.25
Total votes1,656,043100.00
Source: PA Department of State [12]
Judge Doris A. Smith-Ribner (D) retention, 2007
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes1,051,79362.90
No620,31937.10
Total votes1,672,112100.00
Source: PA Department of State [12]

Related Research Articles

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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).