HARRISBURG – The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s newest justice will be Commonwealth Court Judge P. Kevin Brobson, who narrowly defeated Superior Court Judge Maria McLaughlin in the appellate court elections on Tuesday.
Brobson, running as a Republican, captured just over 52 percent of the vote according to unofficial results, while McLaughlin, a Democrat, garnered just less than 48 percent.
A Pittsburgh-based litigator who went on to serve the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania for 11 years, Brobson will replace outgoing state Supreme Court Justice Thomas G. Saylor, who soon reaches the high court’s mandatory retirement age of 75.
Republicans will now hang onto one of their two seats on the state Supreme Court, as another election to determine a new member to its seven-seat bench will take place in November 2022.
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Chief Justice Max Baer, a Democrat, will also face mandatory retirement at the end of next year, when he turns 75.
In a statement, McLaughlin said she was proud of her campaign.
“I am proud to have run an ethical campaign, stayed true to myself and my oath. Who the Republican Party didn’t beat was my husband, powerbroker Jonathan Saidel. He alone raised as much money sitting on a bar stool in our condo as all their interest groups combined. I will always be grateful for the privilege of serving all Pennsylvanians on our Superior Court,” McLaughlin said.
Brobson was not able to be reached for a statement on his victory in the election.
In the coming year, the new state Supreme Court is poised to attract widespread attention, as a plethora of cases hitting political hot-button issues like abortion, gerrymandering and election integrity will be on its docket.
A case seeking to challenge the state’s ban on abortion coverage in the Medical Assistance program, potential challenges over state changes to voting districts and the Pennsylvania GOP Senate’s attempt to audit the results of the 2020 Presidential Election all seem likely to appear before the high court in the next year.
The topics of voter districts and gerrymandering have come before Pennsylvania state courts in the past.
When Brobson was on the Commonwealth Court, he authored a December 2017 ruling in League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, Et Al., v. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Et Al. In that suit, the ruling opined that the state’s congressional districts, which were drawn six years prior, were not unfairly skewed towards Republicans.
While Brobson admitted that partisan politics contributed to the map’s layout, he added that some partisanship comes with the territory in redistricting and recommended that the state Supreme Court adopt the same point of view.
However, the state’s high court, featuring a 5-2 Democrat majority, overturned this ruling in 2018 and ordered the creation of a new district map instead.
Meanwhile, GOP candidates swept Pennsylvania’s appellate court elections: The Superior Court will count ex-state Attorney General Megan Sullivan as its newest justice, while Bradford County attorney Stacy Wallace and Judge J. Andrew Crompton secured their seats on the Commonwealth Court.
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com