Much of campaign money is from trial lawyers, labor unions and a billionaire
By Marc Levy
Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Spending in the campaign for an open Pennsylvania state Supreme Court seat is picking up, with millions of dollars flowing into the race as the sides sharpen their attacks over questions about ethics and abortion rights.
The race between Democrat Dan McCaffery and Republican Carolyn Carluccio won’t change the partisan balance on the seven-seat high court, but it could narrow the Democratic majority to a one-vote margin, 4-3, should Carluccio win.
Total reported spending has passed $4.5 million, with millions more likely before the Nov. 7 election. Much of the campaign cash is from trial lawyers, labor unions and a billionaire who is considered one of the GOP’s top national donors.
That money is underwriting attack ads.
In one flier, a pro-Carluccio group tried to tie McCaffery to a nearly decade-old email scandal that resulted in McCaffery’s brother, a one-time state Supreme Court justice, stepping down from the court.
Carluccio, in turn, is the target of TV ads by Planned Parenthood’s national political arm and a pro-McCaffery group called Pennsylvanians for Judicial Fairness that say she is a threat to abortion rights in Pennsylvania.
Carluccio, a Montgomery County judge, is endorsed by a pair of anti-abortion groups, the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation and Pro-Life Coalition of Pennsylvania. One has said it did so after she represented herself as “pro-life.”
Publicly, she has avoided saying whether she supports or opposes abortion rights, and instead said she will uphold a state law that makes the procedure legal.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year to overturn Roe v. Wade and end nearly a half-century of federal abortion protections left the question to states. In Pennsylvania, the law allows an abortion up to the Roe v. Wade standard of 24 weeks, with exceptions for rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother.
McCaffery, who sits on the statewide appellate Superior Court, has been blunt about his positions and warned that electing Carluccio and other Republican judges will undo the gains that Democrats have fought for, including voting, labor and abortion rights.
In recent years, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court has been pivotal in major voting rights and election-related cases, including rejecting GOP-drawn congressional districts as unconstitutionally gerrymandered and rejecting a Republican effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden in a bid to keep then-President Donald Trump in power.
Carluccio has reported spending more than $2.8 million, including contributions of good and services, with $600,000 still in the bank through Sept. 18.
Of that spending, more than $2.1 million was spent on fliers and TV ads by Commonwealth Leaders Fund.
McCaffery has reported spending about $900,000 including contributions of good and services, with $1.2 million in the bank.
Labor unions have given more than $630,000 to McCaffery’s campaign, while trial lawyers’ groups have given more than $1 million.
On top of that, Planned Parenthood and Pennsylvanians for Judicial Fairness have spent hundreds of thousands more, with more spending coming.
The ACLU said it will spend more than $1 million in the race, and the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee said it will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Democrats hold a 4-2 majority on the court, which has an open seat following the death last fall of Chief Justice Max Baer, a Democrat.
