Morning Digest: GOP launches campaign to end Democratic control of Pennsylvania's top court
Three justices are up for retention this fall
Leading Off
PA Supreme Court
National Republicans have begun airing ads urging Pennsylvania voters to oust three Democratic justices on the state Supreme Court in closely watched elections taking place in November.
The justices' allies, though, are also making their case for why Pennsylvanians should retain Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty, and David Wecht, whose victories in 2015 gave Democrats control of the top court in this perennial swing state. Such an outcome would preserve the Democrats' hard-won 5-2 majority.
A commercial from the Republican State Leadership Committee tells viewers, "Democrats weaponized the courts against President Trump before. Now, Pennsylvania's radical judges want 10 more years of unchecked power."
The narrator encourages Republicans to request mail-in ballots—a pitch that comes as Trump is trying to ban voting by mail nationwide—and "vote 'no' in November."
The GOP can make that simple pitch because voters will be presented with three "yes" or "no" questions asking whether or not they want to retain each justice. These rules mean that Republicans have no actual candidates they need to drum up support for, which allows them to just focus on advocating a "no" vote. (The state uses traditional partisan elections in Supreme Court races that do not feature incumbents.)
"This is a political consultant's dream, because your message is just one thing, and that's 'No,'" a GOP consultant told Spotlight PA in February.
The RSLC is also eagerly embracing the chance to highlight why conservatives in the Keystone State and across the country should invest in these elections. A spokesperson predicted to Spotlight that ousting the three Democrats would "spur a seismic momentum shift in Pennsylvania that would create an opening for more conservative policy victories in the state."
The committee, though, also hinted that support for its efforts has not yet reached the level it might like.
"The stakes are high and we know this will be an uphill battle, which is why it's essential that more conservatives get engaged in this fight down the stretch," its spokesperson added.
One of the justices on the ballot believes Republicans have taken an interest in this year's races so they can punish the court for striking down the GOP's congressional gerrymander in 2018.
"We took away a prized possession of some highly partisan actors in our system who had created a flamboyantly gerrymandered map, was an insult to democracy, and was Exhibit A nationwide for the most obscene U.S. House map of any state in our nation," Wecht said this week at a town hall.
Dougherty, likewise, framed his service and that of his colleagues as anything but partisan.
"The constitution required us to run as a partisan, but the moment we were elected, when we put that black robe on, we hung up that partisan title," he said. To that end, the three justices will not be identified by party affiliation on the November ballot, though they were when they were first elected a decade ago.
The justices' supporters are running ads urging a "yes" vote to "keep the Supreme Court independent," though that's not the only pitch they're making.
In that same spot, Pennsylvanians for Judicial Fairness, a Democratic-aligned group, also focuses on an ongoing legal battle over whether the state constitution guarantees the right to an abortion.
Pro-choice activists have likewise emphasized that judicial elections in Pennsylvania and in other states give voters the chance to safeguard reproductive rights at a time when they're under attack nationally.
"They can extend more rights to us than even the federal courts can," a Planned Parenthood official said earlier this month at an event supporting the justices' retention. "They're actually the ceiling as it relates to our rights and our freedoms, where the United States Supreme Court is the floor."
No Pennsylvania justice has lost a retention battle since 2005, when voters ousted Russell Nigro due to anger over pay raises for government officials that state lawmakers had passed. The University of Virginia says that Nigro—who had nothing to do with approving those pay hikes—is the only justice to lose his seat since the state instituted retention elections in 1968.
Should Donohue, Dougherty, and Wecht find themselves in the unhappy position of joining Nigro in his lonely club, their seats would be declared vacant and the court would be reduced to just four members: two Democrats and two Republicans.
While Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro would be able to nominate replacements, the GOP-controlled state Senate would have the power to block any of his picks. Republicans are hoping to unseat Shapiro next year, while Democrats are aiming to take control of the upper chamber, though a stalemate could continue regardless: It takes two-thirds of the Senate to confirm justices, a mark neither party is likely to reach.
A deadlock would leave any vacant seats open until 2027, when candidates would be able to run to fill them in traditional partisan elections.
David Nir here, publisher of The Downballot! We love bringing you the Morning Digest every day, because shining a spotlight on overlooked elections is as important to us as it is to you. But it takes a lot of hard work—and resources. If you’re able to support The Downballot by upgrading to a paid subscription, we’d be incredibly grateful.
House
FL-19
Former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn was arrested in Florida on Wednesday for failing to appear in court for allegedly driving without a valid driver's license.
"Madison keeps a very busy schedule and, due to a scheduling misunderstanding, did not appear in court this morning," the ex-congressman, who is now a Florida resident, said in a statement to Gulf Coast News. "Following processing Madison was immediately released."
Cawthorn, who was convicted last year for rear-ending a state trooper's cruiser in a separate case, has been considering seeking Florida's open 19th Congressional District. Axios said last week that Cawthorn was "preparing" to run, a report that was published after the most recent traffic incident but before his arrest.
TX-08
Republican Rep. Morgan Luttrell unexpectedly announced Thursday that he would retire after just two terms representing Texas' 8th District, a safely red constituency north of Houston.
Luttrell said he decided to end his brief congressional career after the flooding that devastated Texas this summer, which he says made him realize "that while the work in Washington is important, my family, my community, and my state need me here—closer to home." (The floods primarily affected the Hill Country, about 200 miles to the west of Lutrell's district.)
The congressman, who is 49, did not indicate whether he might consider running for office again in the future.
Donald Trump would have carried the revamped 8th District 63-36, which is only a little to the left of his 66-32 showing under the current lines. Party primaries are set for March 3, though candidates need to win a majority to avert a runoff on May 26.
Luttrell, a retired Navy SEAL, won the nomination outright in 2022, though only after an expensive campaign that turned into a proxy war between House GOP leadership and anti-establishment hardliners.
Luttrell had the support of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and his allies, as well as some star power on his side: The congressman's twin brother, fellow SEAL veteran Marcus Luttrell, was played by Mark Wahlberg in the 2013 movie "Lone Survivor" that was adapted from Marcus Luttrell's book.
Sen. Ted Cruz and the nihilistic House Freedom Caucus, meanwhile, consolidated behind political operative Christian Collins. Luttrell ended up prevailing in a 52-22 rout before easily winning the general election. Less than a year later, though, McCarthy was dumped as speaker and soon left Congress; now Luttrell is following suit.
Attorney Jessica Hart Steinmann, who serves as general counsel to the hardline America First Policy Institute, was quick to express interest in becoming the 8th District's new representative. Steinmann recently used her connections to inflame transphobia by co-authoring a Wall Street Journal op-ed titled, "Transgenderism Won't Let Girls Say No."
Mayors & County Leaders
Boston, MA Mayor
Former nonprofit head Josh Kraft ended his campaign for mayor of Boston on Thursday, an announcement that came two days after incumbent Michelle Wu demolished him 72-23 in the city's nonpartisan primary.
Kraft, who spent $5.5 million of his own money during the first round, has until Monday to remove his name from the Nov. 4 ballot, though he did not initially say whether he would do so. Local election officials told the Boston Globe they were unsure whether such a move would allow Domingos DaRosa, an activist who took third place with 3% of the vote, to replace Kraft in the general election.
Wu, who is one of the more prominent progressives in the country, is sure to prevail no matter which name appears opposite hers in November.
Bucks County, PA
Pennsylvania Democrats are sharing a new poll showing their candidates unseating two prominent Republicans this fall in Bucks County, a longtime battleground that Donald Trump narrowly carried last year.
In the contest for district attorney, former Bucks County Solicitor Joe Khan posts a 49-43 advantage over incumbent Jennifer Schorn, according to a survey first shared by Politico that was conducted in early August. The sample also finds Democrat Danny Ceisler prevailing in the race for sheriff by a similar 48-43 spread against Fred Harran, who currently holds the post.
Upswing Research, which polled for the Democratic PAC Bucks United, also finds that Trump is a major potential liability for his party. Likely voters give Trump an underwater 42-53 favorable rating less than a year after he carried the county by a tight 49.4 to 49.3 spread—an accomplishment that made him the first GOP presidential nominee to win Bucks since George H.W. Bush in 1988.
This is the first survey we've seen of the contests for any of the five countywide posts, which are known collectively as "row offices," that are up this fall. After Republicans, as we detailed in March, swept all of them in 2021, Democrats are now on the offensive this year.
Two of the remaining three contests are rematches between Republican incumbents and the Democrats they ousted in 2021: Controller Pamela Van Blunk faces Neale Dougherty, while Recorder of Deeds Dan McPhillips is trying to fend off Robin Robinson. The final race pits Prothonotary Colleen Christian, whose office administers civil court documents, against real estate agent Donna Petrecco.
Cook County, IL Board President
Chicago Alderman Brendan Reilly announced Wednesday that he would challenge Toni Preckwinkle, the longtime president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, for renomination in the March 17 Democratic primary. Whoever wins should have no trouble in the general election to lead this reliably blue community.
Preckwinkle, who is 78, announced earlier this year that she would seek a fifth term as leader of America's second-most populous county, a post she first won in 2010.
Preckwinkle's longevity isn't entirely voluntary, as she lost the 2019 election for the more high-profile post of mayor of Chicago in a landslide against Lori Lightfoot. But Preckwinkle, who also leads the county Democratic Party, rebounded by winning reelection in 2022, while Lightfoot went on to lose the following year's mayoral race.
Reilly, 53, has a long record of promoting himself as tough on crime. That stance led him to back a Republican challenger in 2020 against then-State's Attorney Kim Foxx, a prominent criminal justice reformer who had just defeated Reilly's preferred candidate in the primary. (Foxx won but did not seek reelection last year.)
Reilly launched his bid against Preckwinkle by arguing she was failing to combat crime, rising costs, and local corruption.
"People want to know when they're paying their taxes, that those taxes are going to go towards high quality services that benefit the public," he told the Chicago Sun-Times. "And unfortunately, when we see bad investments being made on crooked insider deals, that's money that you are literally taking away from the public benefit."
The paper asked Reilly about his past work for Mike Madigan, the once-powerful state House speaker who was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison earlier this year after being convicted on corruption charges.
"I had a very narrow role there," the alderman told the Chicago Tribune in a separate interview. "I had no knowledge that anything like what we've read about in the papers was going on. … [T]his was nearly 30 years ago."
Preckwinkle has countered that she continues to do an effective job in office. A spokesperson responded to Riley's entry in a statement saying, "While her opponent lobs soundbites from the sidelines, Toni is in Washington right now fighting Trump's attacks on public service and defending health care as a basic right."
CO-08: Former rep Yadira Caraveo has dropped out after some pretty concerning stories about her mental health were published. I hope she gets the help she needs and we can nominate a someone who can focus 100% on campaigning and not personal challenges.
https://www.cpr.org/2025/09/12/yadira-caraveo-drops-out-8th-congressional-district-race/
The Respect Missouri Voters Coalition started their petition drive to get the Respect MO Voters amendment on next year's ballot. Their aim is to get 300,000 signatures by January 1, 2026.
https://www.ksmu.org/news/2025-09-11/respect-missouri-voters-begins-gathering-signatures-to-place-a-measure-on-the-ballot-next-year