Magic seats, ward leaders and the 2022 ward elections in Philadelphia
Magic Seats, Ward Leaders and the 2022 Ward Elections
Who fills empty elected seats when at that place's an unexpected opening? It could be y'all, says Philly 3.0's engagement director
Aug. 31, 2021
Last calendar week, Inquirer reporter Chris Brennan introduced Clout readers to the concept of a "Magic Seat" which—while it sounds kind of fun at first—turns out to be a euphemism for a process where people can go placed into elected positions by political party bosses without having to entrada or win whatsoever public support.
Magic seats happen when incumbent judges up for a memory vote withdraw from the general ballot election. 3 Common Pleas judges—Robert Rebstock, Gary Glazer, and James Murray Lynn—and Municipal Court Judge Gerald Kosinski have filed to drop off the election.
Guess Marking Moore, now serving an appointment to Common Pleas Court that expires in January, "is a definite" for a magic seat to stay on the demote, party Chair Bob Brady said. Moore ran unsuccessfully for guess in this twelvemonth's main with the party'due south bankroll.
Brady said he hears another Mutual Pleas estimate and a Municipal Court estimate up for retention this year may also drop out by the Sept. 2 deadline. The party has until Sept. xiii to name replacement candidates and, because Democrats dominate in Philly, they're unlikely to lose. Magic seats, sometimes chosen "golden tickets," draw a lot of involvement […]
All that comes with no need to campaign, no dialing for dollars from supporters, no doling out street money for ward leaders. Judicial candidates have been known to sink hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own money into races. How nice if y'all can skip all that.
For numerous reasons, electing judges is not a good way to produce political accountability for the court system. Judicial elections are defective all the necessary ingredients that make normal elections for legislative and executive positions work decently well: an electorate that'south informed about what bug the candidates will brand decisions virtually; the ability of candidates to promise specific outcomes they can exist judged against in the future; and—more commonly in other parts of Pennsylvania—the power for voters to use party label cues to figure out who they volition by and large align with politically.
But elections are the system that nosotros have in identify to select judges, and the fairest way for somebody to get into one of these seats under the circumstances is through an election. If merit selection of judges is on i side of the adept-government spectrum every bit arguably the virtually desirable alternative to elections, pick by political party bosses is mode over on the contrary side, and that's what we become with Magic Seat-style appointments.
Brennan reports that Autonomous Senator John Sabatina Jr. of Northeast Philadelphia could exist i of the people in line for the Magic Seat, and it's unclear who else may be in line to receive the Democratic Political party'south nominations for a can't-lose general election.
Elections are the system that nosotros have in place to select judges, and the fairest way for somebody to get into one of these seats under the circumstances is through an ballot.
Policy-wise, this wouldn't be a neutral move, as it would leave Philadelphia without any representation on the Pennsylvania Senate's Transportation Committee heading into a disquisitional year for state transit funding. On a positive notation, it would also likely favorably resolve another transportation fight where Senator Sabatina has been singlehandedly property upwards some protected bicycle lane legislation that some important Philly street and bridge repaving projects are waiting on.
One of the more important practical takeaways from this story is nearly who specifically chooses the candidates nether odd circumstances like this, and how those people come to occupy those roles.
The answer is that it'southward the ward leaders, and the elections for those positions are coming upwardly next year in 2022, during the spring primary. Ward leaders volition vote on who fills the Magic Seats, only who votes for the ward leaders?
It's non the voters! Voters get a gamble to counterbalance in on this only indirectly, past electing committee people in their precincts, known equally voting divisions. Each division tin can elect two committee people from each party next spring. Each ward elects a few dozen committee people in all, and afterwards the main, each ward committee has a reorganization meeting where those committee people vote for a ward leader and a slate of officers. So regular people can only influence who their ward leader is by voting for committee people who are aligned with 1 ward leader candidate or some other.
RELATED: Read our explainer on the ward system in Philadelphia
When it comes to candidate endorsements, in some "Open up Wards"—wards where the elected commission people get a vote on things—the ward leader will defer to a majority vote by the commission people when casting a vote on things similar the Magic Seat nominees. But in most wards, the ward leader solitary will make the decision.
The number of Open Wards with democratic internal practices increased in the concluding cycle, thank you in part to Philly 3.0's efforts in the 2022 ward elections, and nosotros'll be working to grow their ranks past even more in 2022.
For anyone interested in running for a committee person seat in 2022, or helping to back up others' campaigns, sign up hither to get data and become involved.
In 2022 and 2023, these positions are going to be critical for deciding who wins primary endorsements for state and local offices. But they're likewise critical for filling oddly-timed openings like with the Magic Seats, or any number of land Representative or City Council openings that may come up in your area over the next few years. If your ward is "open," it could be yous voting on these kinds of nominations.
Jon Geeting is the director of engagement at Philadelphia 3.0 , a political activity committee that supports efforts to reform and modernize Urban center Hall. This is role of a series of articles running on both The Citizen and 3.0'southward blog .
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Source: https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/magic-seats-ward-elections/