Pennsylvania Superior Court

Pennsylvania Superior Court
Court information
Judges:	15
Founded:	1895
Salary:	Associates: $239,059[1]
Judicial selection
Method:	Partisan election of judges
Term:	10 years

The Pennsylvania Superior Court is one of Pennsylvania's two statewide intermediate appellate courts, the other being the commonwealth court. The superior court was established in 1895. It reviews most of the civil and criminal cases that are appealed from the courts of common pleas in the state's 67 counties.^[2]

The superior court consists of 15 judges who are elected to serve ten-year terms.^[3] Members of the superior court may appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to be considered for a position as a senior judge on the superior court. Senior judges do not actively sit on the superior court, but they remain available to participate on the court. One term as a senior judge is three years in length.^[4]

• Published opinions of the Pennsylvania Superior Court can be found here.

Judges

Judges of the Pennsylvania Superior Court

Active judges

Senior judges

Court seal

Vacancies

There is one current vacancy on the Pennsylvania Superior Court, out of the court's 15 judicial positions.

Pending nominations

There are no pending nominees for this court.

Judicial selection

See also: Judicial selection in Pennsylvania

The 15 judges of the Pennsylvania Superior Court are selected in partisan elections.^[5]

Judges serve 10-year terms, after which they must run in yes-no retention elections if they wish to remain on the court. A separate part of the ballot is designated for these elections, and judges' names appear without respect to party affiliation.^[5][6] To learn more about these elections, visit the Pennsylvania judicial elections page.

Qualifications

To serve on the Pennsylvania Superior Court, a judge must:

• have state residence for at least one year;
• be a member of the state bar; and
• be under the age of 75.^[5][7]

President judge

The Pennsylvania Superior Court selects its president judge by peer vote. The president serves in that capacity for five years.^[5][8]

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state supreme courts

In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a successor who must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the Pennsylvania Senate. Interim judges stand for election at the next municipal election occurring more than 10 months after the vacancy occurred.^[5]

By tradition, appointed interim judges of the supreme court, superior court, or court of appeals do not go on to run for permanent seats. In other words, the governor appoints these judges with the expectation that the judge will only fill the interim vacancy.^[5]

Elections

2025

See also: Pennsylvania intermediate appellate court elections, 2025

The terms of a judge on the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court and a judge on the Pennsylvania Superior Court will expire on January 5, 2026. The two seats are up for retention election on November 4, 2025.

Judges with expiring terms

This is a list of the judges who must stand in a retention election in 2025 in order to remain on the bench. Judges may choose not to stand for retention. The list is subject to change if judges retire or are appointed.

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court
■ Michael Wojcik

Pennsylvania Superior Court
■ Alice B. Dubow

2023

See also: Pennsylvania intermediate appellate court elections, 2023

Candidates and results

The terms of two Pennsylvania Superior Court judges expired on January 1, 2024. The two seats were up for retention election on November 7, 2023. The last day to file for retention was January 2, 2023.

In addition, two seats on the Pennsylvania Superior Court were up for partisan election on November 7, 2023. The primary was May 16, 2023. The filing deadline was March 7, 2023.

Partisan election

Shogan and Bender vacancy

General election

General election for Pennsylvania Superior Court (2 seats)

Jill Beck and Timika Lane defeated Maria Battista and Harry Smail Jr. in the general election for Pennsylvania Superior Court on November 7, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jill Beck (D)	28.0	1,572,023
✔		Timika Lane (D)	25.5	1,431,550
		Maria Battista (R)	24.1	1,353,555
		Harry Smail Jr. (R)	22.3	1,251,817

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,608,945
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Pennsylvania Superior Court (2 seats)

Jill Beck and Timika Lane defeated Patrick F. Dugan in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania Superior Court on May 16, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jill Beck	40.3	694,115
✔		Timika Lane	37.9	653,020
		Patrick F. Dugan	21.7	373,619

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,720,754
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Pennsylvania Superior Court (2 seats)

Maria Battista and Harry Smail Jr. advanced from the Republican primary for Pennsylvania Superior Court on May 16, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Maria Battista	52.9	626,159
✔		Harry Smail Jr.	47.1	557,707

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,183,866
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Retention election

Panella's seat

Stabile's seat

Judges not on the ballot

• Jacqueline Shogan (R)
• John T. Bender (R)

2021

See also: Pennsylvania intermediate appellate court elections, 2021

Candidates and results

The terms of two Pennsylvania Superior Court judges expired on January 3, 2022. Additionally, one seat was vacant.

Peikes Gantman's seat

General election candidates

• Timika Lane  (Democratic Party) 
• Megan Sullivan  (Republican Party) ✔ 

= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
 Democratic primary candidates

• Jill Beck
• Timika Lane ✔ 
• Bryan Neft 

= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
 Republican primary candidates

• Megan Sullivan ✔ 

= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

Bender's seat

General election candidates

• John T. Bender  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔

Bowes' seat

General election candidates

• Mary Jane Bowes  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔

2019

See also: Pennsylvania intermediate appellate court elections, 2019

Candidates and results

The terms of three judges on the Pennsylvania Superior Court were set to expire in January 2020. They had to stand for retention election on November 5, 2019, in order to remain on the bench. One judge chose not to stand for retention.^[6][9]

Lazarus' seat

• Anne Lazarus

Olson's seat

• Judith F. Olson

Ott's seat

The following candidates ran for two open seats:^[10]

General election candidates

• Amanda Green-Hawkins  (Democratic Party)
• Daniel D. McCaffery  (Democratic Party) ✔
• Megan McCarthy King  (Republican Party) ✔
• Christylee Peck  (Republican Party) 

= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
 Democratic primary candidates

• Amanda Green-Hawkins ✔
• Daniel D. McCaffery ✔
• Beth Tarasi Sinatra 

Did not make the ballot:

• Ryan James

= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
 Republican primary candidates

• Megan McCarthy King ✔
• Christylee Peck ✔ 
• Rebecca L. Warren

= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

Judges not on the ballot

• Paula Ott (R)

2017

See also: Pennsylvania judicial elections, 2017

Candidates and results

Retention election

■ Jacqueline Shogan

Partisan election

■ H. Geoffrey Moulton Jr.(Incumbent)
■ Carolyn H. Nichols
■ Maria McLaughlin
■ Deborah A. Kunselman
■ Craig Stedman
■ Wade Kagarise
■ Emil A. Giordano
■ Mary P. Murray
■ Jules Mermelstein

Judges not on the ballot

• Lillian Harris Ransom
• Carl Solano^[11]

2015

Alice B. Dubow faced Emil A. Giordano in the general election.

Pennsylvania Superior Court, One seat, General Election, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Alice B. Dubow	53.1%	1,047,920
	Republican	Emil A. Giordano	46.9%	924,964
		Write-in votes	0%	0
Total Votes				1,972,884
Source: Pennsylvania Department of State, "Unofficial General Election Results," November 3, 2015

Robert J. Colville faced Alice B. Dubow in the Democratic primary.

Pennsylvania Superior Court, One seat, Democratic Primary, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Alice B. Dubow	57.7%	376,748
Robert J. Colville	42.3%	276,330
Write-in votes	0%	0
Total Votes		653,078
Source: Pennsylvania Department of State, "2015 Municipal Primary Unofficial Results," May 19, 2015

Emil A. Giordano was unopposed in the Republican primary.

2013

See also: Pennsylvania judicial elections, 2013

Retention

Judge	Retention vote	Retention Vote %
GantmanSusan Peikes Gantman   A		69.4%A
PanellaJack Panella   A		69.2%A

Seat 1

Candidate	Incumbency	Party	Primary Vote	Election Vote
StabileVic StabileA	No	Republican	100%A	51.5%   A
McVay, Jr.Jack McVay Jr.	No		55.4%A	48.5%   A
WydaRobert C. Wyda	No	Republican	Withdrew%
Waters, Jr.Joseph C. Waters, Jr.	No	Democratic	44.6%

2011

See also: Pennsylvania judicial elections, 2011

The following is a list of candidates for the Superior Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	District	Primary Vote	Election Vote
PatrickPaula A. Patrick	No		34.6%
StabileVic Stabile	No		65.4%	45.4%   A
WechtDavid N. Wecht
BowesMary Jane Bowes   A	Yes			A
BenderJohn Bender   A	Yes			A

Judicial ethics policies

The Pennsylvania Code of Judicial Conduct sets forth ethical guidelines and principles for the conduct of judges and judicial candidates in Pennsylvania. It is composed of seven canons:

The full text of the Pennsylvania Code of Judicial Conduct can be found here.

Removal of judges

Judges in Pennsylvania may be removed in one of two ways:^[13]

• By the court of judicial discipline, which hears formal charges from the judicial conduct board if the board finds probable cause to file charges
• Impeachment by the House of Representatives, plus conviction by two-thirds of the Senate

Statistics

The table below shows appeals statistics for the Pennsylvania Superior Court since 2008. The number of civil and criminal appeals as well as the total number of appeals filed and concluded in a given year are shown. Information in "Pending" columns indicates the number of appeals at that were ending at the conclusion of the year. The "Net change" column shows the change in pending appeals by year. A positive value means there were more appeals pending at the end of the given year than compared to the previous year. A negative value means there were fewer appeals pending at the end of the given year than compared to the previous year.^[14]

History

The superior court was established in 1895 by the Pennsylvania State Legislature to hear appeals from the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas.

When the court was formed in 1895, it included seven judges who sat together to hear each case that came in front of the court. In 1978, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ordered the court to begin hearing cases in panels of three judges, citing the "exceedingly heavy volume of appeals coming to the Superior Court."^[16]

In 1979, the Pennsylvania Constitution was amended to increase the number of judges on the court from seven to its current level of 15. The eight additional positions were filled by 1986.

Judges are both elected and appointed to the court. Seniority is attained according to the length of continuous service on the court, but elected judges receive seniority over appointed judges.^[2]

Courts in Pennsylvania

See also: Courts in Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania, there are three federal district courts, state supreme court, a superior court, a commonwealth court, and trial courts with both general and limited jurisdiction. These courts serve different purposes, which are outlined in the sections below.

Click a link for information about that court type.

• Federal courts
• State supreme court
• State courts of appeal
• Trial courts

The image below depicts the flow of cases through Pennsylvania's state court system. Cases typically originate in the trial courts and can be appealed to courts higher up in the system.

The structure of Pennsylvania's state court system.

Party control of Pennsylvania government

Pennsylvania has a divided government where neither party holds a trifecta. The Democratic Party controls the office of governor and the lower chamber of the state legislature, while the Republican Party controls the upper chamber of the state legislature.

See also

Pennsylvania	Judicial Selection	More Courts
Courts in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Pennsylvania Superior Court Pennsylvania Supreme Court	Elections: 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 Gubernatorial appointments Judicial selection in Pennsylvania	Federal courts State courts Local courts

External links

• Official website for the Pennsylvania Superior Court
• Opinions of the Pennsylvania Superior Court

Footnotes

v • e State intermediate appellate courts Alabama Civil • Alabama Criminal • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Nebraska • Nevada • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania Superior • Pennsylvania Commonwealth • South Carolina • Tennessee Civil • Tennessee Criminal • Texas • Utah • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin

v • e Pennsylvania Superior Court and Commonwealth Court Judicial selection in Pennsylvania • 2023 elections • Pennsylvania Supreme Court
Superior Court	John Bender  •  Mary Jane Bowes  •  Jack Panella  •  Judith Olson  •  Anne Lazarus  •  Deborah A. Kunselman  •  Mary P. Murray  •  Alice B. Dubow  •  Vic Stabile  •  Maria McLaughlin  •  Carolyn H. Nichols  •  Timika Lane  •  Megan McCarthy King  •  Megan Sullivan  •
Commonwealth Court	Renee Cohn Jubelirer  •  Patricia McCullough  •  Ellen H. Ceisler  •  Lori A. Dumas  •  Anne Covey  •  Christine Fizzano Cannon  •  Michael Wojcik  •  Matt Wolf  •  Stacy Wallace  •  Dave Beaudoin/Sandbox Kevin Brobson  •