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HARRISBURG - The race for an open seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court as well as contests that will decide the makeup of the state’s other powerful appellate courts had yet to be called as midnight Tuesday approached.

Though the balance of power on the high court is not at stake, the race between Democrat Maria McLaughlin and Republican Kevin Brobson was still marked by big campaign spending and negative ads. As of 11:30 p.m., unofficial results showed Brobson leading McLaughlin.

Democrat Timika Lane and Republican Megan Sullivan were also on the ballot Tuesday, vying for a seat on Superior Court, which handles civil and criminal appeals. Four candidates - Democrats Lori Dumas and David Lee Spurgeon, and Republicans Drew Crompton and Stacy Sorokes Wallace - competed for two seats on Commonwealth Court, the venue for suits involving state agencies.

In addition to votes from polling places, election officials across the state were tasked with counting more than 700,000 mail ballots. They were not permitted to start canvassing those ballots until 7 a.m. Tuesday, and in large cities like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, that process could spill into Wednesday if not later.

The results of this year’s Supreme Court race, which was held to replace outgoing Republican Justice Thomas Saylor, will be closely watched. Within the next year, the court is likely to consider controversial and politically charged cases surrounding elections, redistricting, and abortion. The 2022 governor’s race could also set the stage for the court to continue to mediate policy and other disputes between the new administration and the GOP-controlled legislature.

In the lead-up to this year’s election, the two Supreme Court candidates raised $6.1 million - much of that in the waning weeks of the race. Brobson, with significant financial support from the state Republican Party, brought in more than $470,000 between Oct. 19 and 29, campaign filings show. That does not include an additional $447,000 in independent expenditures made on his behalf by groups that are not permitted under the law to coordinate directly with a candidate.

McLaughlin raised just over $225,000 in direct donations during the same period, with $80,000 coming from Fairness PA, a political action committee associated with unions and lawyers in Philadelphia. Outside groups spent another $101,000 in independent expenditures on her behalf.

The two spent the bulk of their money on campaign consultants and ads that became increasingly sharp over the course of their contest.

Less than a week before Election Day, Brobson’s campaign revised an attack ad that the state bar association said violated its standards for accuracy and integrity in campaign advertising.

The ad added additional context to its claim that McLaughlin voided the guilty plea of a drunk driver who admitted to killing a pregnant woman. McLaughlin in fact joined a majority opinion that sent the case back to a trial court after the defendant hadn’t been adequately advised before entering his plea. In the lower court, he again pleaded guilty and is still in state prison.

Brobson’s campaign also removed claims that McLaughlin’s top donor is “indicted by the FBI for political bribery.” Labor leader John Dougherty, currently on trial on federal corruption charges, manages a campaign fund for Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The union PAC is a top McLaughlin donor.

In the coming months, the state Supreme Court will decide a case challenging Pennsylvania’s ban on abortion coverage through the Medical Assistance program. Separately, the justices could hear any legal challenges arising from the state’s efforts to redraw congressional and state legislative districts.

The justices will likely be asked to weigh in on a controversial review being undertaken by the state Senate of the 2020 presidential election, as well as a major education lawsuit over equitable funding for low-income school districts.

Pennsylvania’s appellate judges are elected in statewide contests, but that could change in the future. Some Republican lawmakers are pushing a proposal to create regional districts for these judges, a change that would require the approval of the voters. The earliest such a question could appear on the ballot is 2023.

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