The race for an open seat on Pennsylvania’s highest court initially resembled the sleepy contests that had played out for decades. But the race between Democrat Dan McCaffery and Republican Carolyn Carluccio became unlike any other. It included national media coverage, record-breaking spending and the highest turnout for an odd-year election in at least a quarter-century. McCaffery ultimately won the seat on Tuesday. Such high-stakes, high-spending partisan campaigns could become standard for judicial elections in Pennsylvania. Shanin Specter, who helps lead the political arm of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association, says statewide elections for judges now can't be won without spending a lot of money.
