PA Supreme Court Justices: Party Labels and the 5-2 Majority

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices and their party affiliation currently break down five Democrats to two Republicans. Pennsylvania elects its high-court justices in partisan races with the party label printed on the ballot, so every sitting justice carries a public affiliation from the election that first put them on the court.¹

The Seven Current Justices

Here is how the seven seats line up:²

Debra Todd (D), Chief Justice. First elected in 2007, retained in 2017. Became the first woman to serve as Chief Justice in the court’s 300-year history when she assumed the role in October 2022. Her current term runs through December 2027.³⁴
Christine Donohue (D). First elected in 2015, retained in November 2025.
Kevin M. Dougherty (D). First elected in 2015, retained in November 2025.
David N. Wecht (D). First elected in 2015, retained in November 2025.
Sallie Updyke Mundy (R). Appointed in 2016, then elected to a full term in 2017.
P. Kevin Brobson (R). Elected in 2021, took office in January 2022.
Daniel D. McCaffery (D). Won the 2023 open-seat race with about 53% of the vote and took office in January 2024.²

How the 5–2 Majority Got Locked In

Two recent elections set the current balance. The first was the 2023 race that seated McCaffery. It filled the vacancy created by the sudden death of Chief Justice Max Baer in September 2022.⁵ Baer was a Democrat, so the seat carried the potential to shift the court’s partisan balance. McCaffery’s win kept it at 5–2.

The second was the 2025 retention cycle. Donohue, Dougherty, and Wecht had all finished their initial ten-year terms and faced “yes/no” retention votes together. All three were retained by margins of roughly 27 percentage points. Because three Democratic seats were on the ballot at once, outside groups spent heavily trying to flip at least one “no” vote, making it one of the most expensive retention cycles the state has seen. With those three now sitting for another decade, the 5–2 Democratic majority is unlikely to shift before the late 2020s at the earliest.

Why Each Justice Has a Party Label

Pennsylvania is one of a handful of states that uses fully partisan elections for its highest court. Candidates run in a Democratic or Republican primary, and the winner of each primary advances to the general election with that party label displayed on the ballot. The general election falls during an odd-year municipal cycle, which tends to draw lower turnout than presidential or midterm years.

The system traces to Article V of the Pennsylvania Constitution, which provides that justices “shall be elected” and leaves procedural details to the legislature.⁶ Once a justice wins that partisan general election, the affiliation stays part of the public record for the rest of their time on the bench, even after they move to non-partisan retention ballots. Party affiliation at the ballot box doesn’t bind how a justice rules, though voting patterns on politically charged cases tend to track party lines more often than not.

How Debra Todd Became Chief Justice

The Chief Justice is not chosen by voters or by the Governor. The role automatically goes to the justice with the longest continuous service on the court.⁷ When a Chief Justice leaves the bench, the next most senior justice steps into the position. Todd, first elected in 2007, is the longest-serving current member and holds the title on that basis.

The Chief Justice also carries administrative authority over the entire state court system, including the power to temporarily reassign judges between courts and districts.¹ That is separate from the court’s work deciding cases.

What Could Change the Balance

Two things can shift the 5–2 split before an initial ten-year term runs out: a justice leaves the bench, or a sitting justice loses retention.

If a justice dies, resigns, or hits the mandatory retirement age of 75, the Governor appoints a replacement.⁸ That appointment requires confirmation by a two-thirds vote of the state Senate.⁶ The high threshold is designed to prevent a Governor from stacking the court without meaningful legislative buy-in. An appointed justice serves only until the first Monday of January after the next municipal election that falls more than ten months after the vacancy, at which point voters pick someone for a full ten-year term through the usual partisan process.

Retention is the other route to a vacancy. After an initial ten-year term, a justice who wants to stay must stand for a “yes/no” vote with no opponent, no party label, and no primary. A simple majority of yes votes keeps them on the bench.¹ Retention losses are historically rare, and the 2025 results suggest the current majority is secure in the near term.

1
Judicial Conduct Board of Pennsylvania. Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania – Section: Supreme Court
2
Ballotpedia. Pennsylvania Supreme Court
3
Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Justice Debra Todd Formally Installed as First Female Chief Justice in History of Pa Supreme Court
4
Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Chief Justice Debra Todd
5
Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Supreme Court Announces Passing of Chief Justice Max Baer
6
50Constitutions.org. Pennsylvania Constitution Article V Section 13 – Election of Justices, Judges and Justices of the Peace
7
Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin. 201 Pa Code Rule 706 – Determination or Selection of Chief Justice
8
Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Senior Judges