DNC makes six-figure investment in Pennsylvania Supreme Court elections

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced Thursday that it’s making a six-figure investment in Pennsylvania voter contact efforts ahead of three critical state Supreme Court elections.

The investment comes just weeks before elections to determine whether state Supreme Court Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht will be retained for new 10-year terms or rejected. All three are Democrats though the retention races are nonpartisan.

The races are important because the state Supreme Court has a liberal 5-2 majority. If all three justices are rejected, Republicans could flip control of the court in a top swing state.

Candidates very rarely lose in retention races since voters are only asked whether to extend their term or not and the ballots do not include head-to-head match-ups.

The race has attracted investments from several groups already.

The Republican State Leadership Committee, a Democratic-aligned group called Pennsylvanians for Judicial Fairness, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, multiple chapters of the ACLU and the GOP-aligned group CommonWealth Partners have all invested in the race, according to Spotlight PA.

“The stakes couldn’t be higher in these judicial retention races, especially in the run-up to winning back the White House in 2028,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement.

“The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is on the frontlines of decisions related to voting rights, redistricting, abortion protections, and more. The DNC is all hands on deck to win elections everywhere — none more important than in Pennsylvania in November,” he added.