Pennsylvania Judicial Retention

Judges in Pennsylvania are elected to vacant seats in partisan elections, but then stand for periodic nonpartisan retention elections.

Pennsylvania Representative Ted Harhai (D) introduced a bill last week that would require judicial retention election ballots to list the party affiliations of judges. "His legislation is a less radical move than separate bills ... that seek to eliminate initial judicial elections — while still preserving retention elections — for statewide judges. The backers of these bills claim that merit selection, rather than added transparency in elections, is key to boosting the public’s trust." according to Law360.