PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has played a key role in major decisions over the past several years, from congressional maps and mask mandates to election law and reproductive rights.
Two Democrats and two Republicans are seeking the nomination for their respective parties in this month’s primary.
Two Pennsylvania Superior Court judges are seeking the Democratic nomination: Daniel McCaffery, from Philadelphia, and Deborah Kunselman, from Beaver County. Both are rated “highly recommended” by the Pennsylvania Bar Association.
McCaffery won his party’s endorsement. He started his career in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office in 1991. He was elected to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in 2014 and to the Superior Court in 2020.
In his Bar Association questionnaire, McCaffery said he wants to become a Supreme Court justice because he feels “democratic institutions, including the judiciary, are under duress,” and he wants to “restore faith in the judicial branch of government.”
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Kunselman has been a judge since 2005, when she was elected to the Beaver County Court of Common Pleas. She was elected to the Superior Court in 2017.
Kunselman said her judicial and administrative experience makes her well-qualified to serve as a state Supreme Court justice.
On the Republican side, Montgomery County President Judge Carolyn Carluccio is running against Commonwealth Court Judge Patricia McCullough, from Allegheny County.
Carluccio is also rated “highly recommended” by the Bar Association and is endorsed by the state GOP.
McCullough, however, is rated “not recommended,” as she did not participate in the Bar Association’s evaluation. McCullough calls herself “the people’s judge,” noting on her election website she ruled in favor of limiting the governor’s pandemic restrictions, and ruled Pennsylvania’s sweeping election reform law, Act 77, was unconstitutional.
McCullough is endorsed by the PA Pro-Life Federation.
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