Ousting a sitting judge is rare. Delaware County Democrats are suggesting their voters do so this November

Local judicial races rarely attract attention, but partisan politics are playing a role in a Delaware County race this fall.

In a move insiders say represents a bold shift in local politics, Delaware County Democrats are recommending that voters remove three Republican judges from the county Court of Common Pleas in November.

It’s rare for local party officials to get involved in judicial retention elections — in which voters decide every 10 years whether a sitting judge should remain on the bench.

The Delaware County Democratic Committee is bucking a long-standing norm.

“There’s a real tradition of not ever challenging the retention of a judge, unless they do something extremely egregious,” said Colleen Guiney, chair of the Delaware County Democratic Committee. “I always said no, but the calls got louder over the last five years.”

Sweeping political change came to Delaware County — the state’s fifth largest — in 2019, when Democrats wrested control of local government in the long-standing GOP stronghold for the first time since the Civil War.

But buoyed by the “blue wave,” in which the Philadelphia suburbs have shifted toward support for Democrats up and down the ticket, some progressive voices have since called on leaders to treat bipartisan venues like the court system with a more competitive spirit.

“There’s this sentiment here that we took back the county, we’re in power, we’ve got it all going for us.” said David Brown, a Democratic activist and candidate for state representative in Haverford Township who argued that the party should recommend against retaining GOP judges. “Well, I hate to break it to them, when our judiciary is overwhelmingly Republican, you can’t really say the county is run by Democrats.”

The county GOP has, in turn, warned that such a move sets a dangerous precedent.

“Once judges are elected, they are nonpartisan,” said Lindsey Conan, vice chair of the Delaware County GOP. “All three [judges] are highly respected members of the bench. The fact that they would recommend a no-vote shows that they’re trying to treat the bench as anything but bipartisan.”

Passed by a narrow 18-17 majority last Wednesday, the county Democrats’ decision not to support retention of three GOP judges from the Delaware County Court means the party will share that recommendation with voters ahead of the Nov. 7 general election.

Guiney said the party’s decision is not to criticize any individual decisions made by the judges.

Those judges, Richard M. Cappelli, Barry C. Dozor, and William Chip Mackrides, have either run as or been endorsed by Republicans.

Both Cappelli and Mackrides face their first retention vote since winning election in 2013. Voters have retained Dozor once before. As Common Pleas Court judges, they preside over criminal and civil proceedings at the county level.

The office of Delaware County Court President Judge Linda A. Cartisano did not immediately return a request for comment.

Judges up for retention do not list their party affiliation on the ballot and do very little campaigning. To survive, they must receive over 50% of voters’ approval in a yes-no vote.

In Pennsylvania’s 54-year history of retention elections, judges have rarely felt the wrath of voters.

In 2021, Delaware County’s last municipal election, about 65% of voters sought to retain each of the handful of judges up for consideration.

While those margins ensured judges a comfortable victory, insiders say splits have tightened in recent election cycles. As recently as a decade ago, according to Guiney, judges regularly won retention with over three-quarters of the vote.

Progressives like Brown did not shy from voicing their personal opinions on retention.

After the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade last year, Brown became wary of GOP control of the courts — no matter which level.

“We can’t pretend right now that justice is nonpartisan,” Brown said.

Brown, for example, mentioned concerns over Dozor’s impact on the expansion of privatized charter schools in the city of Chester. He also cited concerns about election cases, but Dozor’s record includes a ruling last November rejecting Republican-led efforts to stop certification of election results; he ruled that there was no evidence of wrongdoing by election workers.

Guiney said Brown, who is not a member of the county leadership and did not vote as part of their internal process, doesn’t speak for the party.

Frank Agovino, chair of the Delaware County GOP, said a similar move from his party would be unprecedented.

Agovino pointed to President Judge Jack A. Panella, a Democrat up for retention on Pennsylvania’s Superior Court this year, as an example.

“We’re not interested in weighing into that,” Agovino said.

The Delaware County Bar Association — the county’s bipartisan professional group for lawyers — held a vote of its members showing that the three judges have broad support for retention, each garnering over 90% support.

“I’ve never seen this before,” said Joe Mattson, cochair of the bar association’s judicial retention committee. “We’ve got several very well-qualified Democratic judges on our bench. I would just hate to see this become a partisan issue every time a judge comes up for retention.”

Ahead of the county committee’s razor-thin vote, even local Democrats were divided on the issue.

Brown leads the grassroots organizing efforts for the Haverford Township Democratic Committee. But because he does not hold a voting position, he urged the members to support ousting the judges last month; just eight members backed him, he said, while over 30 opposed supporting a recommendation.

That was in stark contrast to Upper Darby, the county’s largest municipality, where Democratic committee support for a no-retention recommendation was unanimous at a September vote.

“We have seen the dangers of electing far-right judges across our nation,” said Jennifer Toof, vice chair of the Upper Darby Democratic Committee, after the vote. “Our party should work to create opportunities to elect judges who share our Democratic values of fairness, justice, and equality to better serve our diverse community.”

Guiney, who’s chaired the Delaware County Democratic Committee since 2018, said the county’s goal was ultimately to educate voters.

“We’re not here to criticize any individual decision that any individual judge has made,” Guiney said. “But I think there’s a sense from the voters that they would like to see some reforms in the judicial system — and they don’t believe they’re necessarily getting a fair shake at justice with judges who don’t reflect their views.”