Download a one-page flyer with all 8 statewide judicial candidates (not including the 2 up for retention) here: Statewide Judicial Candidates one page Color
PA Supreme Court
Why is PA Supreme Court important?
- Makes final interpretations of the Pennsylvania Constitution and all state laws.
- Issues headed their way: reapportionment, voting rights, worker’s rights, choice, environment, civil rights (gender equality, clean air and pure water, freedom from religious persecution, a free and open press, and protections against warrantless searches, due process violations, and cruel punishments).
- Crucial after the 2020 census: to do away with gerrymandering (if the current anti-gerrymandering movement hasn’t done it by then).
- This is crucial to our self-defense against Trumpism: PA judges serve 10+ years.
Judge Dwayne Woodruff
CCDC Facebook spotlight here. Dwayne is a judge on the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. He was first elected to the court in 2005 and was retained in 2015. He graduated from the University of Louisville in 1979 and played defensive end for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He later earned his J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law in 1988. In 1997, Woodruff became a founding partner of the Woodruff, Flaherty & Fardo law firm. He also serves as the Pittsburgh co-chair for the National Campaign to Stop Violence’s “Do the Write Thing Challenge.”
PA Superior Court – Four open seats. This is the principal intermediate appellate court responsible for reviewing almost all criminal, civil, and other appealed from the Courts of Common Pleas.
Judge Deborah A. Kunselman
CCDC Facebook spotlight here. Deborah is a judge on the Beaver County Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania. She was elected in 2005 and was retained in 2015. She was the first female judge elected to the 36th district Court of Common Pleas. She earned her undergraduate degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1989 and her J.D. from Notre Dame Law School in 1992.
Web site.. 
Twitter
Judge Maria McLaughlin
Maria is a judge on the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania. She was elected in 2011, and her term expires in January 2022. McLaughlin received her bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1988 and her J.D. from Widener University School of Law in 1992.
Web site. Twitter
Judge H. Geoffrey Moulton Jr. (incumbent, 2016 appointee)
CCDC Facebook spotlight here. H. Geoffrey Moulton Jr. is a judge on the Pennsylvania Superior Court. He was appointed by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf in June 2016 and confirmed by the Pennsylvania State Senate on June 27, 2016. Moulton received his bachelor’s degree from Amherst College in 1980 and his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law in 1984.
Web site. Twitter
Judge Carolyn Nichols
Carolyn is a judge on the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania. Prior to her election to the common pleas court in 2011, Nichols held a number of positions, including legislative assistant to former Philadelphia Councilwoman Augusta Clarke, assistant city solicitor, and deputy secretary of external affairs for the office of the mayor of Philadelphia.
Twitter
PA Commonwealth Court – Two open seats
Judge Ellen Ceisler
A 1986 graduate of Temple University Law School, Ellen served as a Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney, specializing in prosecuting domestic violence crimes. She also worked as an investigative producer for CBS News in Philadelphia, working on series related to the mental health, foster care, and day care systems; government mismanagement and waste; consumer fraud; and abuses of the elderly and immigrants. From 1997-2005, she served as Deputy Director and then Director of the Philadelphia Police Department’s Integrity and Accountability Office. In 2007, she was elected to the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia and spent her first six years presiding over major felony trials.
Web site. Twitter
Irene McLaughlin Clark
Irene served as a Municipal Court Judge in Pittsburgh for ten years before returning to private practice focused on helping municipalities and organizations revitalize communities. Her extensive background in housing and neighborhood revitalization led to her to being designated Housing Court Judge responsible for code enforcement cases. Since leaving the bench in 2003, she has focused on helping municipalities and organizations clean up and revitalize blighted and abandoned properties.
Web site.
