Nov. 7 marks the general election for Bucks County this year. The rise in extremism and partisanship has made the implications of this race more important than ever.
It is without a doubt that Pennsylvania has always been an important swing state for American politics, often switching between Republican and Democratic leaders.
In the past couple of years, Pennsylvania voters have voted more Democratic. This year could be different, however, as “people are very unhappy with the national Democrats’’ the chair of the Bucks County GOP, Patricia Poprik, noted in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer earlier this month. Bucks County’s election is said to have serious impacts in the rest of Pennsylvania politics.
The most important race occurring this Nov. is the race for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Judge. The two candidates are Republican Carolyn Carluccio and Democrat Daniel McCaffery.
Currently, the Democrats have a 4-2 majority in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. While these results won’t directly flip the balance of power, it has even more implications for the next Pennsylvania Supreme Court Election in 2024.
According to Ballotpedia, “The next scheduled state supreme court elections in Pennsylvania will take place in 2024 when three Democratic justices first elected in 2015—Kevin M. Dougherty (D), David Wecht (D) and Christine Donohue (D)—will be up for retention. If any of the three justices are not retained, the governor will appoint an interim successor who must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the Pennsylvania Senate.”
The candidates running for the Bucks County Commision this year include Republicans Gene DiGirolamo, and Pamela A. Van Blunk, and Democrats Dianne Ellis-Marseglia and Robert Harvie.
Van Blunk, who received the Pennsylvania Governor’s Award for Crime and Prevention in 2002, is said to be highly active in her community.
Gene DiGirolamo, Van Blunk’s colleague, has served as commission secretary. He spent 25 years in the PA House of Representatives, serving as chair of the House Human Services Committee for five terms.
On the contrary, Democrats Dianne Ellis-Marseglia and Robert Harvie. Marseglia has been on the Board of Commissioners since 2007, and has “worked with children and families in Bucks County for more than two decades and brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to county government, where human services are a primary function,” according to the biography on Marseglia’s website.
Harvie is currently the chairman of the Board of Commissioners and was the “chairman of the board of supervisors from 2008-2020, longer than anyone in the history of Falls Township,” according to his biography. Before politics, Harvie was a Humanities teacher at Bucks County Technical High School for over 20 years.
Pennsylvania Democrats secured spots in all of the most contested spots. According to the data as of Nov. 9, all Democratic candidates for Supreme Court, Superior Court, and Commonwealth Court have ] won.
While Pennsylvania might not see immediate dramatic changes following the election on Nov. 7, the people elected will certainly set the precedent for years to follow.
