Pennsylvanians reject attempted billionaire takeover of Pa. Supreme Court

NBC News called the elections in favor of three Democratic Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices up for retention vote. 

Billionaire-backed, Republican-led efforts to overturn control of Pennsylvania’s State Supreme Court fell short on Tuesday as residents voted to keep the three Democratic justices who were up for retention. 

Democrats will continue to hold onto their 5 to 2 majority after voters approved Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht to serve another 10-year term on the bench. 

However, due to age limits established by the Pennsylvania Constitution, Donohue will be forced to step down from her position on the bench when she turns 75 in December 2027. 

Pennsylvania’s richest billionaire, Jeffrey Yass, spent more than $3.5 million funding efforts to convince voters to vote against the retention efforts during the campaign. 

Yass’ money helped fund nearly $1.7 million in TV ads from the Commonwealth Leaders Fund, a political action committee he supports, and another $1.8 million in digital and TV ads and misleading mailers from a dark money group called Citizens for Term Limits. 

“While hundreds of thousands of people in Pennsylvania are literally counting down the hours until their SNAP benefits run out and they can no longer feed their families, Jeff Yass has hoarded enough wealth to spend millions on buying judges who will do his personal bidding,” Arielle Klagsbrun, Pennsylvania Campaign Director with ACRE and member of the All Eyes On Yass campaign, said in a statement.

“This is what billionaire greed looks like in real time: people suffering while one man tries to rig the courts to protect his own empire. Yass doesn’t care about fairness or justice, he cares about power. He’s using his fortune to rig the system in favor of himself and his billionaire friends, at the expense of the rest of us. Pennsylvanians deserve courts that answer to the people, not to the ultra-rich hiding behind dark money.”