OntheHill
DEPARTMENTS > Contact: Lori Joint
Election 2013 The Manufacturer & Business Association, headquartered in Erie County, has members in 27 Pennsylvania counties, all with different structures of local government and various ballots. For information on your local election, please contact Lori Joint at ljoint@mbausa.org. There was a primary election in May – did you vote? Are you aware of the judicial and municipal elections that
occur during odd numbered years? If you didn’t, you aren’t alone. A mere 11 percent of registered voters in Erie County cast a ballot in the 2011 primary, yet this number does not accurately reflect the importance of the offices. While president, congressional candidates, senators and state-level candidates are high profile, candidates at the local level have just as much impact on the constituents they serve.
Superior Court The Superior Court was established in 1895. It is one of Pennsylvania’s two statewide intermediate appellate courts. The Superior Court is often the final arbiter of legal disputes. The Supreme Court may grant a petition to review a decision of the Superior Court, but most petitions are denied and the ruling of the Superior Court stands. Cases are usually heard by panels of three judges sitting in Philadelphia, Harrisburg or Pittsburgh, but also may be heard en banc by nine judges. The Superior Court often travels to locations throughout Pennsylvania to hear cases. The Superior Court is responsible for appeals in criminal and most civil cases from the Courts of Common Pleas, and appeals on matters involving children and families.
Jack McVay Jr. Democrat
Vic Stabile Republican
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McVay won the two-way Democratic primary with 55 percent of the vote over Joseph Waters.
Stabile ran unopposed in the Republican primary.
According to the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the “recommended“ rating denotes that “based on legal ability, experience, integrity and temperament, the candidate would be able to perform satisfactorily as a judge or justice of the court for which he/she is a candidate.”
Court of Common Pleas According to the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania, “the Courts of Common Pleas are the general trial courts of Pennsylvania. They are organized into 60 judicial districts. Most districts follow the geographic boundaries of counties, but seven of the districts are comprised of two counties. Each district has from one to 93 judges as well as a president judge and court administrator.” There are a total of 439 judges in the Courts of Common Pleas. The four candidates for the sixth Judicial District of Erie County cross-filed, and two were selected for the Republican and Democratic primaries. They will face each other in the November General Election.
Bill Kelly Jr. Democrat
Bob Sambroak Republican
Bill Kelly won the Democratic primary by only 42 votes (26.78 percent of the vote).
Sambroak won the Republican primary with 4,832 votes (33 percent of the vote).
Kelly, an Erie County native, is an attorney in private practice and specializes in personal injury and has been in practice since 1990 upon graduation from Notre Dame Law School.
Sambroak has served as first assistant district attorney in Erie County since 2000 and has been a prosecutor since 1990. He has been an attorney for more than 30 years.
Kelly is rated as “recommended“ by the Erie County Bar Association’s poll of its 476 members.
Sambroak is also rated as “recommended“ by the Erie County Bar Association’s poll.
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