On May 16, 2023, voters across Pennsylvania gathered at the polls to make their voices heard in the Primary Election. Candidates for the Pennsylvania Supreme, Superior and Commonwealth Courts were on the ballots, as well as two special elections for the 108th and 163rd legislative districts of the House of Representatives.
Special Elections
In the 108th district, which includes the Montour and Northumberland counties, voters rallied around Republican Michael A. Stender Jr., allowing him to be victorious over Trevor S. Finn, the Democratic opponent. This was to fill the seat left vacant when former Republican Rep. Lynda Schlegel Culver was elected to the state Senate.
The Democrat candidate had a stronger response in the 163rd district, in Delaware county, where party member Heather Boyd was elected over Republican Kathleen Ford. Boyd’s special election victory fills the vacancy of former Democrat Rep. Mike Zabel, who resigned due to sexual harassment allegations. The race was closely watched with record campaign spending of one million dollars for the Democrat candidate, as it had the potential to change the balance of power in the PA House of Representatives but, with the seat remaining in Democrat control, Democrats maintain their narrow majority.
Judicial Races
In the November general election, Pennsylvania will see Democrat Daniel McCaffery racing against Republican Carolyn Carluccio to be elected Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. McCaffery won his primary race with 60% of Democrat votes and Carluccio garnered 54% of Republican votes.
With voters choosing two candidates for the Judge of the Superior Court positions, Maria Battista and Harry Smail Jr. won the Republican primary election for Judge of the Superior Court. Their Democratic counterparts for the November election will be Jill Beck and Timika Lane. For the Commonwealth Court, Matthew Wolf was the Democratic party favorite and Megan Martin was elected to represent the Republicans.
All of the results are available here.
School Board Elections
In addition to covering elections, Pennsylvania Family Institute also provided our first interactive school board voter guide, which allowed for additional, personalized coverage of school board elections. PFI provided voters with information on over 50 different school district candidates and we have plans to increase that number by November.
Stay Informed: View your free personalized voter guide at PaFamilyVoter.com
