A look at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court retention elections on Nov. 4

By

Ballotpedia staff

Welcome to the Wednesday, Aug. 20, Brew. 

By: Briana Ryan

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. A look at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court retention elections on Nov. 4
  2. Twenty-eight members of Congress have announced they will not seek re-election in 2026
  3. President Trump announces the first federal judicial nomination of a state supreme court justice in over two years

A look at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court retention elections on Nov. 4

Three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices—Christine Donohue (D), Kevin M. Dougherty (D), and David N. Wecht (D)—are up for retention elections on Nov. 4. Pennsylvania voters first elected all three justices to the Court in 2015. That was the first time voters elected three justices to the state’s Court in an election.

WHYY’s Carmen Russell-Sluchansky wrote, “State judicial elections typically garner little attention, but Pennsylvania’s 2025 state Supreme Court races are shaping up to be the next major political battleground.”

Pennsylvania is one of eight states that use partisan elections to initially select a justice. Currently, the Court has a 5-2 Democratic majority. If voters retain at least two of the three Democratic justices up for retention, the party will keep a majority on the Court. If voters do not retain two of the three Democratic justices up for retention, Republicans could gain a majority on the Court in elections in 2027.

That’s because if a justice is not retained, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D)—with approval from two-thirds of the Pennsylvania Senate—would appoint a temporary replacement. Then, there would be a partisan election for a permanent replacement in 2027—the next odd-numbered year. Currently, Republicans have a 27-23 majority in the state Senate.

According to SpotlightPA’s Stephen Caruso and Votebeat’s Carter Walker, Pennsylvania’s Code of Judicial Conduct limits how justices can campaign: “While [justices] are allowed to talk about their approach to the law, they’re barred from discussing specific cases before them, or definitively saying how’d they rule on any given topic.”

Pennsylvania is one of 22 states that use retention elections to renew a term. Since retention elections were established in Pennsylvania in 1968, one justice has lost retention—Russell M. Nigro (D) in 2005. Since 2020, voters have retained 98% of justices up for retention. The most recent justice to not win retention was Yvonne Kauger in Oklahoma in 2024.

In Pennsylvania, justices can serve an unlimited number of 10-year terms. However, they must retire at 75.

Click here for more information on the Nov. 4 Pennsylvania Supreme Court retention election.

Twenty-eight members of Congress have announced they will not seek re-election in 2026

Twenty-eight members of the U.S. Congress—seven members of the U.S. Senate and 21 members of the U.S. House of Representatives—have announced they will not seek re-election in 2026. ​​Compared to previous election cycles, 28 is the most retirement announcements we have followed at this point since 2018.

Since our last update on July 22, five members of the U.S. House have announced that they will not seek re-election in 2026. Of those members, two are running for the U.S. Senate and two are running for governor of South Carolina.

Here are the five members who have announced their retirements since our last update, as well as how three independent race forecasters have rated the 2026 general election for each district these incumbents currently represent:

U.S. House

Twenty-one members of the U.S. House—eight Democrats and 13 Republicans—will not seek re-election in 2026. Of the 21 members not seeking re-election:

  • Four—three Democrats and one Republican—are retiring from public office.
  • Nine—five Democrats and four Republicans—are running for the U.S. Senate.
  • Eight—all Republicans—are running for governor of their respective states.

At this point in the last four election cycles, there were 13 retirement announcements in 2024, 18 in 2022, 17 in 2020, and 21 in 2018.

U.S. Senate

Seven members of the U.S. Senate—four Democrats and three Republicans—announced they will not seek re-election in 2026. Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Tina Smith(D-Minn.), and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) are retiring from public office. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) is running for governor of Alabama.

At this point in the last four election cycles, there were five retirement announcements in 2024, five in 2022, four in 2020, and none in 2018.

Click here to read more about members of the U.S. Senate who are not seeking re-election in 2026, and here for more about members of the U.S. House who are not seeking re-election in 2026.

President Trump announces the first federal judicial nomination of a state supreme court justice in over two years

On Aug. 12, President Donald Trump (R) announced that he intends to nominate Alabama Supreme Court Justice Bill Lewis to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. This announcement marks the first potential judicial elevation from a state supreme court since March 2023.

Maria Araujo Kahn was the last state supreme court justice elevated to a federal judgeship. President Joe Biden (D) nominated Kahn to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Jan. 3, 2023—the first day of the 118th Congress. At the time, she was a justice on the Connecticut Supreme Court. The U.S. Senate confirmed Kahn on March 9, 2023, and she was sworn in the following day.

Gov. Kay Ivey (R) appointed Lewis to the Alabama Supreme Court on May 20, 2025. Currently, all nine judges on the court were either elected in partisan elections as Republicans or appointed by Republican governors. Lewis previously served as a judge on the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals. As of Aug. 13, 2025, he is still awaiting an official federal judicial nomination and has not announced a retirement date from the Alabama Supreme Court.

Eight state supreme court justices have been appointed and confirmed to lifetime federal judicial positions since 2018. Trump made five of those appointments, and Biden made the remaining three. Half of the eight nominations were to U.S. district courts, and half were to U.S. Courts of Appeal. 

David Souter was the last U.S. Supreme Court justice who had previously served on a state supreme court. Souter served on the New Hampshire Supreme Court from 1983 until his appointment to the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals in April 1990. Six months later, President George H. W. Bush (R) nominated Souter to replace Justice William Brennan on the U.S. Supreme Court. Souter served on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1990 until his retirement in 2009.

Click here to learn more about the appointment process for federal judges.