McCaffery Wins Pennsylvania Supreme Court Seat After Costly, Bitter Campaign

Democrat Daniel McCaffery has won a seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, defeating Republican Carolyn Carluccio in an election defined by harsh advertising and spending on a scale not seen before in a race for the court. The contest cost tens of millions of dollars.

The Associated Press declared McCaffery the winner shortly before 11 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 7. Unofficial returns gave him 53% of the vote to Carluccio's 47%.

The result strengthens the Democratic majority on the seven-member court. The seat was open because Chief Justice Max Baer, a Democrat, died last fall.

The court is the last stop for lawsuits in Pennsylvania, and in recent years its justices have issued major decisions on the COVID-19 pandemic, voting access and the environment. They also settled the final boundaries for congressional and legislative districts, which help determine the balance of power in Washington and Harrisburg.

Groups that support abortion access backed McCaffery and described the race as essential to win in the period after Roe v. Wade was overturned. Political observers also viewed the contest as a test of how much the issue might motivate voters in 2024.

Money flowed in as the court drew fresh attention. McCaffery's campaign raised more than $3.9 million from the start of the year until shortly before Election Day, while Carluccio's raised nearly $6.5 million. Much of the support for Carluccio took the form of digital and TV ads and mailings from the Commonwealth Leaders Fund, a political action committee largely financed by Jeff Yass, the state's richest man and a backer of alternatives to public schools. Overall spending exceeded $22 million as of early November, an apparent record, according to the AP. Pennsylvanians for Judicial Fairness, a PAC funded by unions, the association of Philadelphia trial lawyers and Planned Parenthood, spent $4 million in one month supporting McCaffery.

Both candidates said the negative ads and mailers from outside groups were damaging. Cathy Mairs, a Delaware County voter, called the ads "ridiculous" and "too nasty" outside her polling place on Tuesday.

McCaffery was born and raised in Philadelphia, where he was a prosecutor in the district attorney's office and later a Court of Common Pleas judge. He joined the military at 18 and attended Temple University. Voters elected him to the Superior Court in 2019, and in May he won the Democratic primary with 60% of the vote over fellow Superior Court Judge Deborah Kunselman. The state Democratic party and unions including the Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters endorsed him, and the Pennsylvania Bar Association rated him "highly recommended."

Many attack ads focused on his ties to Democratic political organizations, while others cited inappropriate emails he received from his brother, former Justice Seamus McCaffery, who resigned in 2014 after an investigation found he had sent pornographic messages from a government email account. Daniel McCaffery told KDKA he had nothing to do with that scandal and suggested Democratic-aligned groups retaliated as the attacks continued.

Carluccio, a Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas judge since 2010, also received a "highly recommended" rating from the bar association. Democrats and Planned Parenthood called her a threat to abortion access, citing endorsements from anti-abortion groups. Shortly before the election, Carluccio said she would "apply" the state's law, which bans abortion after 24 weeks with limited exceptions, adding, "I have no interest in taking away anyone's rights."