PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A seat on Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court is on the ballot this year, replacing Chief Justice Max Baer, who died last fall.
Republican Carolyn Carluccio faces Democrat Daniel McCaffery. Both candidates have pointed to their experience and their records on the bench.
Carluccio, the current President Judge of Montgomery County’s Court of Common Pleas, has been a common pleas court judge since 2010. “I have the most diverse background, because I was a federal prosecutor, chief public defender, chief deputy solicitor [and] director of human resources for this county,” she said.
McCaffery is currently a Pennsylvania Superior Court judge, elected in 2019. Prior to that he was a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge, elected in 2013.
“I've taken the oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States on four separate occasions in my life, at age 18, as a soldier, at 26, as a prosecutor, as a trial court judge, and as an appellate court judge,” said McCaffery.
The Pennsylvania Bar Association has rated both candidates “highly recommended.”
Both McCaffery and Carluccio call the attack ads being run on their behalf disappointing and devastating, saying those ads are from third-party groups and are outside their control.
“I've got a history of well-earned history and reputation for being fair, for being somebody who will not elevate politics over the law,” said McCaffery, while Carluccio agreed, saying, “I think the most important thing is that we have judges and justices who understand their personal and political beliefs do not belong on the bench.”
Carluccio and McCaffery both say they hope voters look at their experience to decide who is the better option.