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The Clout column in the Philadelphia Daily News offers an update on a story we reported about the Philadelphia Democratic party’s effort to ensure that its endorsed local judicial candidates receive total party support:

[Party leader Bob] Brady told ward leaders that their committeepeople would carry the party’s endorsed candidates this year or they could forget about Election Day street money.

There’s just one problem: Some ward leaders can’t tell their committeepeople what to do.

“In our ward, committeepeople want to meet the candidates and make a decision after we discuss it,” said Mike Boyle, who heads the 5th Ward, in Center City.

The column identifies a total of five ward leaders who will challenge the party discipline effort.  “Brady said he hopes the independent wards will support the party’s slate. It won’t help that two of the party’s Common Pleas Court candidates, Roxanne Covington and Sharon Williams Losier, were rated “not recommended” by the Philadelphia Bar Association.”

This is what happens when judges run for election like other officials — party politics, political games, street money all play a role in determining who reaches the bench.  That doesn’t make a lot of sense when the ultimate goal — at least in our minds — is to get the most qualified, fair and impartial judges.

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