Chop Wood, Carry Pennsylvania 10/23 🌳
Hi, all!
I’m copying and pasting the below pretty much in its entirety from the Abe team because I couldn’t have put it better, and these upcoming judicial elections in PA are so very important.
In Pennsylvania a race for Supreme Court Justice has major state and national implications. So let’s dig in, see what’s up, and help the forces of democracy keep the bench.
Background: While democracy defenders have a 4-2 edge on what is normally a seven-seat court, three of the Justices face re-election in 2025. The seventh seat, up for grabs right now after the death of Chief Justice Max Baere, is critical insurance. If we win it, the pro-democracy majority will be far easier to sustain later.
Who’s running? The race pits Superior Court Judge Daniel McCaffrey–who has received numerous key endorsements–against stealth extremist Carolyn Carluccio, who won her primary taking vocal positions against reproductive freedom and common sense gun laws, then scrubbed those positions from her website to reposition for the general. Carluccio, unlike McCaffrey, declines to list her endorsements on her website. Moreover, the lion’s share of her war chest comes from the Commonwealth Leaders Fund, a PAC primarily backed by billionaire Jeff Yass. (Give his  background a read…Jeff YIKES might be more appropriate.)
What’s at stake? Pretty much everything:
Individual rights—ahem, abortion
Voting rights
Protection against gerrymandering (redistricting to come in 2030)
And defense against scurrilous attempts to overturn results in 2024
Don’t forget, Pennsylvania courts were instrumental in defeating Donald Trump’s Big Lie. Of 65 lawsuits filed by Trump and his minions following the 2020 election, 14 were filed in Pennsylvania alone, and five made it to the PA Supreme Court.
Here’s what you can do to help in the run up to the November 7 election: Â
Ballot Chase & GOTV Calls w/ Promote the Vote PA! Multiple times available. Sign up here.
Call Young Voters in PA and VA to GOTV w/ NextGen America! Multiple times and days available. Sign up here.
Phone Bank - Register Pro-Democracy Voters in Pennsylvania w/ Field Team 6! Thursdays 4-6pm EDT. Sign up here.
Folks, don’t underestimate this one.  While races in other places may generate more headlines, this sleeper is critical. It’s the kind of deceptively quiet election on which the future of our democracy may actually hinge.
Thanks, all. More soon.
Jess