2008 Woodie Awards
Video related to this article is available below.Issue date: 11/8/07 Section: News
Election 2007 | With the win behind him, real challenges set to begin
A host of difficult issues face Mayor-elect Nutter, though popularity may give him wiggle room
Ashwin Shandilya
Democratic nominees and former Superior court judges Seamus McCaffery and Debra Todd beat out two Republican candidates to win the two open seats on the State Supreme Court, giving the Democrats a one-seat majority on the seven-person court.
The razor-thin Democratic majority could thus shift the court's judicial philosophy slightly to the left on the range of issues the Court has final say on, from campaign-finance reforms to gambling and gaming ordinances.
"It's a real frustration that judicial candidates sometimes get ignored," said Ellen Kaplan, policy director for the Committee of Seventy, a nonpartisan group for clean elections. "These judges will make decisions that affect every aspect of people's lives."
The Supreme Court results could also influence the redistricting process that occurs every 10 years: The Court plays a deciding role in helping carve out legislative districts based on the U.S. Census.
"The last time this happened, the balance of power in the courts was Republican," Pennsylvania Democratic Party spokesman Abe Amoros said in an interview last month.
Some Democratic officials feared that low turnout in Philadelphia would pose a problem for the statewide judicial elections, but McCaffrey and Todd were able to win despite only 28 percent of registered voters coming to the polls, the lowest total in a non-incumbent mayoral race since 1951.
The razor-thin Democratic majority could thus shift the court's judicial philosophy slightly to the left on the range of issues the Court has final say on, from campaign-finance reforms to gambling and gaming ordinances.
"It's a real frustration that judicial candidates sometimes get ignored," said Ellen Kaplan, policy director for the Committee of Seventy, a nonpartisan group for clean elections. "These judges will make decisions that affect every aspect of people's lives."
The Supreme Court results could also influence the redistricting process that occurs every 10 years: The Court plays a deciding role in helping carve out legislative districts based on the U.S. Census.
"The last time this happened, the balance of power in the courts was Republican," Pennsylvania Democratic Party spokesman Abe Amoros said in an interview last month.
Some Democratic officials feared that low turnout in Philadelphia would pose a problem for the statewide judicial elections, but McCaffrey and Todd were able to win despite only 28 percent of registered voters coming to the polls, the lowest total in a non-incumbent mayoral race since 1951.
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alum
posted 11/08/07 @ 12:03 PM EST
Why does the DP forget to mention that both Michael Nutter and Ed Rendell are graduates of Pennsylvania in this and just about every article? At least throw their graduating year behind their name under the first mention (i. (Continued…)
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