Legal News

With Republican Endorsement, Philadelphia's Next Judges Set Before General Election

By Brian Harris

By Amaris Elliott-Engel
Of the Legal Staff

It's not the general election yet, but the winners of 11 Philadelphia judicial openings already have been assured.

All six attorneys running on the Republican line for Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and Philadelphia Municipal Court have withdrawn from the race. And the city Republican Committee has cross-endorsed 10 of the 11 Democratic candidates running for seven openings on the Court of Common Pleas and four openings on Municipal Court.

Vito Canuso, chairman of the city Republican Committee, said there was no deal between the city Democratic Committee and the city Republican Committee for the Republicans to withdraw from the race and for the Republican Committee to support the Democratic slate. In fact, Canuso said the Democratic candidates personally approached or sent emissaries to approach the Republican Committee about getting endorsements for any vacancies on the Republican ticket.

Instead, Canuso said, the Republicans decided to endorse the Democratic slate because: "There's no people who want to run for this office at this time under these circumstances except for the people who are already nominated on the Democratic ticket."

Attorneys Anne Marie B. Coyle, Dan Rendine and Fran Shields and Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Joyce Eubanks, who is filling out an interim term on the bench, won on the Republican line but not the Democratic line in the May 19 primary for the Court of Common Pleas. Attorneys Joe Murphy and Kenneth J. Powell Jr. also won on the Republican line but not the Democratic line in the May 19 primary for Municipal Court. Powell is now serving an interim term on the Municipal Court. All six are now out of the race, according to Department of State records.

Eubanks said she was not asked to withdraw, and that she decided to withdraw because it was in the best interest of the Democratic candidates who won in the primary.

Eubanks previously ran as a Republican candidate when she didn't win in the Democratic primary, and she said she learned that without a great deal of money to affect voter awareness that it's "very difficult" for a Republican judicial candidate to win in Philadelphia. Republican judicial candidate have won in Philadelphia if they have qualified in the Democratic primary, Canuso said.

Four other candidates qualified as judicial candidates on both the Republican and Democratic lines. Only attorney Roxanne Covington did not seek the Republican endorsement in the fall election, Canuso said.

Full post as published by The Legal Intelligencer Blog on September 08, 2009 (boomark / email).