Democrats selected McNeill's wife Jeanne McNeill as their nominee.[2] Republicans nominated David Molony and Libertarians nominated Samantha Dorney.[3]
Democratic state representative Leslie Acosta was re-elected during the 2016 elections, but later resigned after pleading guilty to charges of embezzlement.[4] A special election for the 197th legislative district took place on March 21.
Republicans nominated Lucinda Little for the seat. Democrats originally nominated health clinic administrator Frederick Ramirez, but a Commonwealth Court ruling declared that Ramirez did not reside in the district and removed him from the ballot.[5] Democrats attempted to replace Ramirez with Philadelphia Parking Authority auditor Emilio Vazquez, but the Court ruled (and the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania confirmed) that the filing deadline had passed, preventing the substitution.[6] Vazquez subsequently ran a write-in campaign, along with Green Party candidate Cheri Honkala.[7]
Following the special election, four elections officers were charged with interference after allegations of duress and voter intimidation were made.[8]
One seat was up for election after Justice Michael Eakin resigned on March 15, 2016. Republican Superior Court judge Sallie Updyke Mundy was appointed by Governor Tom Wolf to the seat vacated by Justice Eakin and was subsequently confirmed on June 27, 2016.[9] Justice Mundy ran for a full 10-year term.
Four seats of the Superior Court were up for election. Three seats were up for partisan election due to the retirement of Judge Cheryl Lynn Allen in September 2015 and the election of then-Judges Christine Donohue and David Wecht to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2015. A fourth seat became vacant due to then–Judge Sallie Mundy's elevation to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in July 2016.
In 2016, Governor Tom Wolf appointed three judges to the Superior Court, Carl Solano, Lillian Harris Ransom, and Geoffrey Moulton.[14] The appointed judges filled the vacant seats of Judge Cheryl Lynn Allen, Justice Donohue, and Justice Wecht, respectively.
Two seats were up for election. Judge Bernard McGinley retired from the court on January 31, 2016,[26][27] and Judge Bonnie Brigace Leadbetter became a senior judge on January 31, 2016. Governor Tom Wolf appointed Joseph Cosgrove and Julia Hearthway to fill the vacant seats of Judge McGinley and Judge Leadbetter, respectively.[14] Incumbent Judge Joseph Cosgrove, a Democrat, ran for a full 10-year term, while Judge Julia Hearthway, a Republican, did not run for a full term, and vacated her seat on September 1, 2017.[28]
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