And the African American Judicial Winners are…

And the African American Judicial Winners are…Can we all inhale and exhale after the Tuesday, May 18th PA Primary Election? I know some of you will say, what election? Unfortunately, if it’s not a presidential election year or a mayoral election year, statistics show us that more often than not, voters do not turn out in large numbers at the polls. So it was with this years’ Pennsylvania Primary election. It was kind of a sleeper. Even though some political candidates put their money where their mouths were and purchased political airtime on radio and television, there were still adults walking around, talking about, “I didn’t know there was an election.”
The District Attorney’s race was the hot ticket issue for Philadelphians who were, in fact, paying attention during the most recent past election. Congratulations again to the incumbent D.A. Lawrence Larry Krasner, who trounced his opponent on May 18th. He’ll face off against Republican Charles Chuck Peruto in November.
The political race results that seem a bit harder to get, are the results for some of the judicial seats that were available statewide and locally.
Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Lori Dumas did well in her Primary bid for a seat on The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. I caught up with her to get her, take on her victory. “I appreciate each and every person across the commonwealth who voted for me as I run for this statewide judgeship. It’s been a lot of work to get to this point, but it’s work I asked for, and I’m up for the task. It’s been my privilege to meet so many wonderful people as I’ve crisscrossed Pennsylvania. All along the way, I’ve been able to see the goodness in so many of the citizens I’ve encountered and their desire to see justice work for all. While I’m thanking voters, on one hand, I need to remind voters that the race isn’t over yet. The finish line looms ahead, come to the General Election, November 2, 2021. I am still asking for your votes on that day. All the Democrats who won for Commonwealth Court of PA Primary have to run against Republicans for the same seats in November. I’m running against two Republicans. The campaign is not over.”
Keep in mind, while running for a statewide judgeship, Judge Lori A. Dumas is already a sitting judge in Philadelphia. That means she does her job every day, as a judge in Common Pleas Court here in Philly, and then in the evenings and on weekends, she’s out meeting voters in Pittsburgh, Erie, Allegheny County, Harrisburg, Johnstown, and so on. That’s how you win a statewide seat. Judge Dumas spoke of how she balances it all. “I do what I do very delicately. Foremost, I still have a responsibility to the people that I serve from the bench. All of my campaignings have to occur after work hours. Some people have asked me why I want to go from being a Philadelphia court judge to a judge on a statewide court? My response is I’ll have an opportunity to touch more lives. The decisions that I’ll make will impact all Pennsylvanians. Some decisions are long-lasting. It also gives me an opportunity, through my decisions, to impact systems which will touch the lives of many more people.” Judge Dumas has been a judge in Philadelphia for twenty years.
Timika Lane, another African American Judge from Philadelphia, ran a statewide campaign to be a Superior Court Judge, and she won in the Primary. That puts her on the ballot come November 2, 2021, also. Congratulations to Judge Timika Lane.
Philadelphia Family Court Judge Cateria R. McCabe was appointed a Judge in Philadelphia by PA Governor Tom Wolfe, and that tenure runs out next year. Being passionate and committed to what she’s doing, she decided to mount a campaign again, to run for a more permanent seat on Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, and she did well during the Primary Election. Judge McCabe is another one of the Judges I was able to speak with after her May 18th victory. She shared, “I think people should pay attention to every election, and unfortunately, a lot of people still don’t realize we have elections every six months. We have the Primary Election in April or May in Pennsylvania every year, and the General Election is always on the first Tuesday in November. Whether it’s the Presidential, Gubernatorial, Mayors’ race, we also have to pay attention to the State Reps races, as well as our federal level legislators. It’s important to be engaged in the process and not just think about the presidential election because the other offices are very important as well.”
Judge McCabe added, “Those successful candidates from the May 18th Primary Election will be on the ballot for the General Election as well as Judges who are running for retention. The distinction will be we will need votes. Incumbent Judges who are running to continue their term will need a yes or no vote on the ballot. Eight seats are available on Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, and three seats are available on Philadelphia Municipal Court. For the Court of Common Pleas, once a person wins, you sit for a term of ten years on the bench. For Municipal Court in Philadelphia, once you become a judge, you sit for a term of six years before you have to run for reelection.”
In closing, Judge McCabe also wanted to thank voters who did take the time to participate in the Primary Election. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I appreciate any efforts that were made to help me to pursue this successful win in May. Thank you for your prayers and of course, thank you for all the contributions in many ways, whether people had petitions signed, whether they made financial contributions, whether they simply encouraged other people to vote for me, if they hosted a candidates forum, to help educate voters about me and other candidates, any and all efforts are greatly appreciated. I thank every one of course for their vote, but also for any other efforts to help me win, from the bottom of my heart. Please keep me in your prayers as I take on this awesome responsibility and service to the citizens of Philadelphia.”
Another African American candidate who won a nomination to be on the ballot in November for Judge of Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia was Nick Kamau. For Municipal Court, there were two African American male candidates who were nominated to be on the ballot for the General Election, Michael C. Lambert, and Greg Yorgey-Girdy. A couple of the African American Judges up for retention in November’s General Election are Judge Craig Washington and Judge George W. Overton.
I was able to obtain the most recent election results from the city of Philadelphia Commissioners web site. That’s www.philadelphiavotes.com. As of Thursday, May 27th the was last update from the May 18th Primary Election was May 25th. The total ballots cast were 222,086. The number of people we currently have registered to vote in Philadelphia is 1,053,565. The number of ballots cast by mail was 61,917. The number of ballots cast at polling places was 160,169. The number of ballots cast by provisional ballot was zero.