As much as $20 million has reportedly been spent in this year’s retention vote for three Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justices.
David Wecht, Christine Donahue and Kevin Dougherty, all Democrats, are up for a 10-year retention on the Election Day ballot.
Political analyst Jon Delano says traditionally spending this amount of money on a retention vote is unheard of.
But this year, it's much more political, “because the state Supreme Courts now have more power on issues like abortion,” said Delano. “Why? Because the U.S. Supreme Court says this is a state issue.”
That means that state Supreme Courts across the country have more power, including in PA, where Democrats currently hold a 5-2 majority.
If the three judges are not retained, that means a 2-2 deadlock until the next elections.
Those will happen in two years, 2027.
The deadlocked court means many causes will remain unresolved.