This year it practically shouted in the race for Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The two candidates seeking to fill one vacancy ended up spending $4.5 million on their campaigns, according to a study done by Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts (PMC), a group that advocates merit selection of judges (i.e. gubernatorial appointment vs. election). PMC says the real total spent on the race between Republican Joan Orie Melvin and Democrat Jack Panella is likely to be higher, once all campaign reports are filed and the money spent by second parties (such as Republican State Committee) is counted. Melvin won the seat by a margin of 110,000 votes in the November election. Why all the interest in Supreme Court? Because it decides on ecnomic issues and because it also, de facto, has a major say in the statewide reapportionment of legislative and congressional district lines that will happen after the 2010 census data come in.
