PA Justice David Wecht Quits Democrats for Independent, Shifting Supreme Court to 4-2-1
Updated
Updated · PoliticsPA · May 11
PA Justice David Wecht Quits Democrats for Independent, Shifting Supreme Court to 4-2-1
5 articles · Updated · PoliticsPA · May 11
David Wecht said Monday he changed his voter registration from Democrat to Independent, months after Pennsylvania voters retained him for a new 10-year Supreme Court term.
In a lengthy statement, Wecht said he could no longer tolerate what he called Democratic acquiescence to antisemitism, arguing anti-Jewish hatred has spread from the fringe into the mainstream left.
The switch changes the partisan makeup of Pennsylvania’s highest court from a 5-2 Democratic majority to a 4-2-1 split, though Wecht said his jurisprudence has always been independent.
Wecht, elected to the Supreme Court in 2015 after serving on the Superior Court, previously drew national attention in 2020 when he called an effort to overturn Joe Biden’s Pennsylvania win “futile” and “a dangerous game.”
When does fierce political criticism cross the line into hate, and who should be the arbiter?