In Tuesday’s Pennsylvania primary, Republicans will nominate either Carolyn Carluccio or Patricia McCullough for a seat on the state Supreme Court.
Despite their contentious campaign, the two women have much in common, including extensive legal careers and generally conservative judicial perspectives.
“My view of my role is exactly what the Constitution has provided,” Carluccio (pictured above, left) told The Pennsylvania Daily Star. “There are three separate branches of government and they’re there for a reason. And I’m the judicial branch, which means I interpret laws, I uphold laws, I uphold the Constitution; I’m not there to write legislation; I’m not there to write policy that’s not there.”
Her opponent was similarly emphatic.
“[The people] can look at my record,” McCullough (pictured above, right) said. “And they can see if I did abide by my oath. And I don’t legislate from the bench, I uphold the Constitution. I’m always fair and impartial.”
McCullough practiced as an attorney for 25 years in the corporate and public sectors before serving as a trial judge and then getting elected to the Commonwealth Court, where she still sits. But she is running almost as an outsider: Carluccio has the endorsement of the Pennsylvania Republican Party and the coveted “highly recommended” rating from the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA); McCullough got only 19 votes in the 400-person GOP endorsement vote, while the PBA did not recommend her.
“The commission finds that [Carluccio] meets the rigorous standards set forth and possesses the highest combination of legal ability, experience, integrity and excellent judicial temperament,” the PBA’s review panel wrote. “The commission is confident that the candidate would serve with distinction as a Supreme Court justice and, therefore, highly recommends her candidacy.”
In summing up its decision, the commission cited Carluccio’s unanimous election among Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas jurists to serve as their president judge, a position overseeing all local court offices. She earlier worked as a federal prosecutor, chief public defender, and county solicitor, a breadth of experience that would be unique on the state’s high court. A former president of the Montgomery Bar Association, she will become president of the Conference of State Trial Judges in July.
In declining to recommend McCullough, the PBA mentioned her “failure to participate” in the review process. However, the judge attributed that to her entering the race after the association’s December response deadline. Still, the PBA also decided against recommending her during an unsuccessful Supreme Court run two years ago. The organization cited “alleged conduct at a previous employment” that the judge did not address “to the satisfaction of the commission,” a matter on which she would not comment to The Daily Star.
All the while, she doesn’t hide her lack of institutional support. She touts a refusal to take donations from lawyers’ groups or lobbying firms. She also proudly recalls her refusal to take the infamous 2005 state-government pay raise and her 2020 order halting certification of the presidential election over concerns about the constitutionality of the state’s mail-in ballot law.
“I don’t compromise to the establishment’s agenda,” she said.
Carluccio said she respects the Allegheny County native. However, she insisted Republican voters need to consider a consequential difference between them: Pennsylvania justices get elected for 10-year terms. If they’re still under 75, they can seek voters’ approval in a yes-no retention election to remain on the bench. But the 62-year-old Carluccio can serve her full initial term while the 66-year-old McCullough will not, forcing the GOP into an early replacement campaign if McCullough gets elected this year.
Keystone State Republicans generally don’t relish the prospect of a more challenging path back to a Supreme Court majority. They recently had that majority, but in 2015 they lost three seats on the seven-person body and now are outnumbered 4-2. (Democratic Chief Justice Max Baer’s death last autumn created the current vacancy.) Since the Democrats took over, they have thwarted Republican lawmakers on redistricting and other issues.
Carluccio suggested even getting that seat will be more difficult if her rival wins the primary.
“I think there’re a lot of contrasts that can be made,” Carluccio said of her rival. “But I also can win in November and I don’t believe that she can. And Republicans in this commonwealth have to get to the point where they understand we need to elect people in the primary who can win in November.”
Pennsylvania Republican Party Secretary Elizabeth Preate Havey, who was among those who encouraged Carluccio to run, spoke highly of her fellow Montgomery Countian.
“I remembered the judge when she held positions in Montgomery County and then when she ran for judge,” Havey said. “As a lawyer, I also was aware of her stellar reputation as a jurist across the county…. After considering [a potential candidacy], she agreed to run and I agreed to be heavily involved with her campaign.”
The GOP nominee will face either Superior Court Judge Daniel McCaffery or his colleague Debbie Kunselman in November, depending on who Democrats choose on Tuesday.
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Bradley Vasoli is managing editor of The Pennsylvania Daily Star. Follow Brad on Twitter at @BVasoli. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Carolyn Carluccio” by Carolyn Carluccio. Photo “Patricia McCullough” by Patricia McCullough. Background Photo “Pennsylvania State Capitol” by Ruhrfisch. CC BY-SA 1.0.
