
Current Races
Pennsylvania Sumpreme Court Retention Election: November 4, 2025
This coming November there will be a retention election for 3 current Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justices: Christine Donohue, David Wecht, and Kevin Dougherty. They have each served in their position for 10 years and are now retention candidates looking for another 10 years to serve their community.
Keystone Equality is proud to provide you with in-depth information on all 3 applicable judges:
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Donohue has spent a majority of her career in private practice, focusing on personal-injury law and advocating for LGBT parents in custody cases. Coming from a blue collar home and being a first generation college graduate, she is fiercely dedicated to her work and values the members of her community she serves.
Past Decisions:
Christine Donohue has made it clear with her past decisions that she supports voter rights, abortion rights, and LGBT rights, especially in regard to LGBT parents.
She helped affirm a state law that allowed mail-in voting in PA so that all citizens were able to participate in the right of voter secrecy and allowed such citizens diverse methods of casting this vote.
Donohue also has been vocal on her opinions on abortion, stating that there is a “fundamental right to reproductive autonomy” and that PA’s Equal Rights Amendment protects reproductive rights as it would be discrimination based on sex to not protect these rights.
Lastly, she has been adamant in her fight for equality of LGBT parents in higher courts, maintaining the notion that a parent’s sexual orientation should not influence the custody case of their child. She has stated her support in education and training for members of the court in regards to LGBT community, their struggles and their needs, and Donohue is also in support of marriage equality and nondiscrimination bills.
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Wecht has a variety of experience within the legal system in addition to his work in education within Pennsylvania colleges and universities. He worked as a civil and criminal lawyer and then in the family court. He holds judges to high standards and does the same for himself, being passionate that judges should not receive gifts nor should they be in the business of pushing a political agenda but rather focus on interpreting the law.
Past Decisions:
David Wecht has been an advocate for equality and has worked in tandem with Donohue and Dougherty for voter rights and more.
With Donohue and Dougherty, he helped affirm a state law that allowed mail-in voting in PA so that all citizens were able to participate in the right of voter secrecy and allowed such citizens diverse methods of casting this vote. Further, during the 2020 election he helped the court decide to approve of a three-day extension for mail in ballots, acknowledging the unique circumstances that the coronavirus pandemic put American voters in.
Wecht agreed with the assertion that PA’s Equal Rights Amendment protects reproductive rights, and that there is a “fundamental right to reproductive autonomy”.
Although Wecht has not participated in any specific pro-LGBT measure, when running for Supreme Court originally he made his stance clear that he supports marriage equality, as well as stating that ethics and LGBT specific training is necessary for people of the court.
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Doughtery may be one of the most well-known judges as well as highly funded. He is known for his work in family court, his focus being to protect youth in the court and promote justice for them without discrimination.
Past Decisions:
Kevin Dougherty has too supported voter and abortion rights, but his main strength has been the work he’s completed to protect transgender youth during his time in family court.
With Donohue and Wecht, he helped affirm a state law that allowed mail-in voting in PA so that all citizens were able to participate in the right of voter secrecy and allowed such citizens diverse methods of casting this vote. Further, during the 2020 election he helped the court decide to approve of a three-day extension for mail in ballots, acknowledging the unique circumstances that the coronavirus pandemic put American voters in.
Dougherty agreed with the assertion that PA’s Equal Rights Amendment protects reproductive rights.
Finally, not only is he endorsed by the Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club, but during his time in family court he made sure to stick up for and support transgender youth, specifically working side-by-side with the Department of Human Services to guarantee fair and just treatment for transgender youth. So much so that he claims to have volunteered to handle all trans youth cases. He has been committed to diversifying the court by appointing the first openly gay judges in Family court in addition to appointing the first out woman to be the chief of court operations as to “reflect the diversity of the communities they serve”. Dougherty is also in support of marriage equality and nondiscrimination bills.
Why you should care:
Everyone can vote in this election!
Although these elections are typically quiet and uneventful, this year the Republican Party is out to take control of the PA Supreme Court.
In a Republican State Leadership Committee memo, it was stated that they were prepared to spend at least 7 figures in resources to get Republicans in these offices instead of our endorsed 3, specifically by increasing awareness of these elections within conservative circles.
The 3 current judges have proved to be in support of LGBTQ+ equality and nondiscrimination laws, and are worthy of retention.