For the fourth election in a row, only judicial candidates for the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas rated “Recommended” by the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Commission on Judicial Selection and Retention won positions on November’s general election ballot.
In the primary election for Philadelphia Municipal Court, Amanda Davidson, the only candidate rated as “Recommended” by the Commission, will move forward to the general elections after receiving significantly more votes than the Non-Recommended candidates. The 36-member Commission, composed of judges, lawyers and community leaders, conducts a thorough, nonpartisan review and investigation of Philadelphia-based judicial candidates’ qualifications in such critical areas as legal ability, experience, integrity, temperament, community involvement and sound judgment before issuing a rating.
“These results clearly show the value that voters place on the tireless work of our Judicial Commission. In the past four election cycles, voters have elected more than 30 “Highly Recommended” or “Recommended” judges to the Court of Common Pleas and a half dozen “Highly Recommended” or “Recommended” judges to Municipal Court,” said Philadelphia Bar Association Chancellor Katayun. I. Jaffari. “Given the length of judges’ terms, this represents a significant achievement that has had a positive and lasting impact on the strength of our City’s justice system.”
“We are grateful to our investigative volunteers, the members of the Commission and the Campaign for Qualified Judges, for the hundreds of hours of work they devoted to ensuring this outcome,” Jaffari continued. “We are also thankful to the candidates for their cooperation throughout the process.”
In addition to Davidson’s primary victory for Municipal Court, the following “Recommended” candidates won positions on the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas November ballot: Will Braveman, Irina Ehrlich, Larry Farnese, Kia Ghee, Sarah Jones, Leon A. King II, Brian Kisielewski, Anthony Stefanski, and Deborah Watson-Stokes. Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Honorable Stella M. Tsai, who was “Highly Recommended” by the Commission, won a position in the November election for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court.
“A qualified judiciary is essential to maintaining the public’s trust in our system of justice. Common Pleas Court judges are elected to 10-year terms and Municipal Court judges to six-year terms. The members of our Judicial Commission and investigative volunteers freely give their time each election cycle because they recognize the consequential role that judges play in our lives and the long-term impact that each judicial election has on our courts,” said Marc J. Zucker, chair of the Judicial Commission. “While we are gratified by the results of the primary, the Commission’s work is not over. We soon will begin evaluating judges who are seeking to be retained for another term on the bench, in order to guide voters in the November general election.”
The Campaign for Qualified Judges, the Philadelphia Bar Association’s political action committee dedicated to supporting and publicizing the Commission’s recommendations, mounted a comprehensive voter education campaign, including a targeted direct mailing to likely Philadelphia voters and a social media campaign.
“We are grateful to all the ward leaders and other community groups who allowed us to speak to their members and explain the rigorous and nonpartisan evaluation process that the Commission follows,” said Matt Olesh, chair of the Campaign for Qualified Judges. “This election shows once again that voters care about judicial candidates’ qualifications.”
