Grasley, a Republican, had initially filed to enter the race on July 18, a few days after then-District 5 Commissioner Ed Rothstein left his seat on the county board to serve as Maryland’s secretary of the Department of Veterans and Military Families.

Rothstein’s term was set to end in December 2026, and the Carroll County Republican Central Committee chose former state Del. Susan Krebs to fill Rothstein’s seat from a pool of four candidates. Gov. Wes Moore’s office officially appointed Krebs on Aug. 28.

Grasley had also vied for the seat, which represents south Carroll, including Eldersburg and Sykesville, in the county government.

Krebs said in September that she planned to run for reelection after serving out the remainder of Rothstein’s term, and on Oct. 28, she officially filed as a 2026 candidate.

Grasley told the Carroll County Times that Krebs’ filing prompted his Oct. 31 withdrawal.

“I think she is doing a great job so far, she has brought forth with a sense of urgency the continued growth in District 5, that I think every resident of District 5 is concerned about,” Grasley said in a statement. “She has a lot of historical and institutional knowledge of the [Carroll County] master plan and the intent of what the residents want, and her experience is invaluable. I wish her the best of luck.”

Though Grasley spoke highly of Krebs’ performance in her first two months as a county commissioner, he said he doesn’t plan to endorse any candidate, saying that “no one needs it” or sought it.

Grasley served three terms on Sykesville Town Council, leaving that post earlier this year. He said that he doesn’t plan to run again for Town Council, but has been asked to serve on several local committees and “will consider them as they come open.”

“Things in Sykesville are in great shape,” Grasley wrote. “I do not want to be one of those council people who do not know when to leave.”

Krebs is the only Republican to file so far for the District 5 seat. One Democrat, Megan Foelber, has also filed for the 2026 election. Foelber, who filed as a candidate on Oct. 22, is the first Democrat to vie for the seat since 2010, and is a former employee of the Food and Drug Administration.

The candidate filing deadline for the 2026 election is Feb. 24.

In next year’s elections, Carroll County residents will vote for several state and local offices, including the governor and lieutenant governor, congressional representatives, state delegates and representatives, county commissioners, county sheriff, and Board of Education members.

The primary election is set for June 23, and the general election is set for Nov. 3.

Have a news tip? Contact Lily Carey at LCarey@baltsun.com.

Former troops and legislators fear the new reaction force could be used to stifle peaceful protests or intimidate voters in future elections, while a public safety analyst told The Baltimore Sun the use of the National Guard to address crime is unprecedented, costly and unwise.

Across the United States, “No Kings” demonstrations have popped up in most major cities since President Donald Trump took office, including in Baltimore. These protests have been aimed at issues such as increased health care costs included in Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” that passed Congress this summer, or the current federal government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history.

And at times, Trump has sought to use the National Guard to quash protests, as he attempted to do in Portland following daily protests outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Facility that had turned contentious. Frustrated when the governor of Oregon declined to send National Guard troops to Portland, the Trump administration responded by federalizing the soldiers.

The Maryland Military Department declined to comment on the reaction force. A spokesman for the National Guard told The Sun these reaction forces are “not new” and that they are deployed in times of “civil disturbance operations, crowd control, area security, critical infrastructure protection and disaster response.

“These on-call elements have existed for approximately 20 years in every state and territory as a response force available to governors,” the spokesman said.

The spokesman said the executive order is intended to “fine-tune, augment and adequately resource National Guard civil support elements” in advance of FIFA World Cup matches in 11 U.S. cities (none of which are in Maryland), the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles and celebrations of the nation’s 250th year.

“As commander in chief of the Maryland National Guard, the governor remains confident in the Guard’s commitment to their mission protecting and assisting the residents of Maryland under his command,” Gov. Wes Moore’s Senior Advisor and Communications Director David Turner told The Sun in an emailed statement.

The National Guard troops were deployed this summer to Los Angeles — which a federal judge in September ruled illegal — and the president has threatened to send troops to other U.S. cities in California, Texas and Oregon.

At a gathering of military brass in October, Trump called for using U.S. cities as a training ground for troops and warned of an “invasion from within.”

National Guard deployments not tied to long-term crime declines

This use of the National Guard as a reaction force is “unprecedented,” said Hanna Love, a Brookings Institution fellow on public safety.

“If you look at the patterns of where this administration has focused its deployment of National Guard troops, it’s a lot of Black cities, a lot of ‘woke’ places,” she said. “We’re seeing targeting of places that have a lot to do with the demographics and the political leanings of those places, which is alarming.”

Love said using the National Guard as a police force is expensive and ineffective in the long run.

“If you’re trying to think of the most effective ways to ease civil disorder, this is one of the most costly ways you can do it, and it really does underline the idea that at its core, crime is a local issue,” Love said. “The times we’ve seen policing be the most effective in high-violence areas is when you have police from the community, rooted in the community and have strong relationships with the community.”

Love said Washington, D.C., and Memphis have seen a decline in crime after National Guard troops were deployed to police those cities’ streets. However, she said data indicated that a decrease in crime would be short-term.

“Rather than solving why the crime is happening, it’s putting a Band-Aid and pushing crime underground,” Love said. “We don’t have evidence that crime declines from the National Guard and federal law enforcement [deployments] have resulted in lasting declines.”

‘Absolutely intimidating’

Navpreet Sandher, a former Marine who served from 2009-2013 and deployed to Afghanistan on a combat mission for much of 2011, now lives in Baltimore and works as a psychiatric nurse practitioner. He plans to speak at a veteran-led protest on Monday about the quick reaction forces creation and deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles.

When uniformed troops, holding weapons or outfitted in riot gear, show up to peaceful protests or stand outside polls, it has a chilling effect on freedom of speech and the feeling of safety among residents, Sandher said. He is worried the National Guard could be used to depress voter turnout or sway election outcomes.

“It’s absolutely intimidating,” Sandher said. “Local leaders are being more complicit than I think they should. Ultimately, [military leaders] can’t say no [to orders] but maybe they shouldn’t stand by and just watch it unfold.”

Sandher said he’d like to see the National Guard stand down from these strike forces in the short term and for deployments to U.S. cities to cease, but in the long term, he hopes the government funnels less money into the military and more into needed services like public transportation and health care.

“More military’s not the answer to all of our problems,” Sandher said. “Your neighbors aren’t the root of all your problems.”

National Guard as election security?

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat representing Maryland, also said he was concerned National Guard troops could be used to deter people from voting.

“Maryland’s National Guard fulfills a number of critical missions in our state,” Chris Van Hollen said in an email statement to The Sun. “Yet, the Trump Administration wants to turn National Guards across the country into a domestic police force to discourage Americans from exercising their constitutional rights.

“All Americans should be concerned about the weaponization of our military here at home, and what this may mean now and into the future, especially when it comes to the sanctity of our elections and safeguarding Americans’ voting rights.”

Alleged voter fraud and election security have long been talking points in Trump’s campaigns for office over the past decade, with the president alleging that people without citizenship are voting in great numbers. There is no evidence that either claim is accurate. Voting as a noncitizen is a felony, punishable with jail time and deportation, and data shows it is “exceedingly rare.”

In 2016 nonpartisan law and policy organization, the Brennan Center for Justice, surveyed local election officials in 42 jurisdictions with high immigrant populations on voter participation. Researchers found 30 cases in which suspected noncitizens voted out of 23.5 million ballots cast, or 0.0001%.

Earlier this year, Trump issued an order on voting that would have required people to show documented proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or U.S. passport, when registering to vote.

The Associated Press contributed to this article. Contact journalist Kate Cimini at 443-842-2621 or kcimini@baltsun.com.

The county faces a February 2026 deadline for candidate filings in elections that will decide all County Council and Board of Education seats.

The ACLU, along with several local groups — including the Wicomico County NAACP, the Caucus of African American Leaders, and the Watchmen With One Voice Ministerial Alliance — filed suit last year, arguing that the county’s two at-large seats violated the Voting Rights Act. A federal consent decree approved by U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Maddox requires the county to scrap its 5/2 at-large system and move to seven single-member districts.

In his ruling for that 2023 case, Maddox wrote that “no Black person has been elected to an at-large position on the Wicomico County Council or Board of Education … since implementation of the Board’s elective system in 2016.” He noted that Black residents make up about 30% of the county’s population, while more than 62% of public school students in Wicomico are people of color.

As part of a settlement, the county is now moving toward redistricting that would eliminate the at-large district.

The decree — which remains in effect until after the 2030 General Election — orders the county to amend its charter and laws to align with the new district-based system. The county executive will continue to be elected at large.

Looking at progress

On Tuesday, attorney Kevin Karpinski, representing the Wicomico County Board of Elections, said new maps are nearly complete. The proposal includes two minority-majority districts and five others. However, he said the board is still working to align council and legislative boundaries with the county’s 20 voting precincts.

“If there’s only three voters, you’ve compromised the secrecy of one vote,” Karpinski said.

Karpinski added that the Board of Elections plans to meet soon to finalize the maps before sending them to both the County Council and Judge Maddox for approval. Wicomico County Attorney Paul Wilber said the council could adopt the plan by simple resolution within two weeks.

“The great puzzle piece,” Wilber said, “is whether all this can be done in time for the February filing deadline.”

Monica Brooks, president of the Wicomico County NAACP and a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said she supports the outcome but criticized the delay.

“The map was agreed upon within months,” Brooks said. “So why did the rest of it take so long?”

Brooks said the lawsuit was intended to ensure fair representation before the 2026 election. The original hope was to make five equal districts, but that became seven with just a single minority district, which Brooks argued only further diluted the opportunity for equal representation for people of color.

“Ninety percent of the time, those at-large seats were held by wealthy white men,” she said. “Nobody else has been able to crack through that shell.”

She also criticized how the county presented the issue on recent meeting agendas, calling the description “a poor job.”

“We should be done with this whole thing,” Brooks said. “Now everybody’s scrambling to try to get it done.”

ACLU applaud the work being done

ACLU of Maryland officials, meanwhile, applaud the work that’s been done. ACLU Maryland Legal Director Deborah Jeon pointed to the fact that the overall agreement also founded a new Wicomico Human Rights Advisory Committee and added the first-ever permanent student member position on the Wicomico School Board.

“Not only does the court-ordered agreement finally end decades of vote dilution through creation of a fair seven-district election system, it goes beyond traditional election reforms by incorporating additional remedies to overcome past exclusion of the Black community from government,” she said.

Jeon said the ACLU hopes to see the final pieces in place soon, so they can get final court approval of the adjusted plan.

“Change is coming, and is already underway,” Jeon said.

Have a news tip? Contact Eastern Shore bureau chief Josh Davis at jdavis@baltsun.com or on X as @JoshDavis4Shore.

Democrats were poised to keep control of every seat on the City Council, if the provisional and remaining mail-in ballots are consistent with the latest tally.

Littmann had 6,312 votes, or 73.01% of votes counted so far, while his competitor, Republican Robert O’Shea, had 2,305 votes, or 26.66% of votes.

One more batch of results will be released Wednesday when officials will count provisional ballots and remaining mail-in ballots that were postmarked by Election Day and arrive before 10 a.m. Wednesday.

O’Shea, who is a consultant in the defense and medical industries, called Littmann on election night to concede and congratulate the Democrat’s win. The Republican candidate had campaigned on lowering property taxes and trimming the city’s budget.

Barring any significant changes with the remaining mail-in ballots, Littmann will become the next mayor of the city on Dec. 1. He will be replacing two-term Mayor Gavin Buckley, a Democrat, who could not run again due to term limits.

Littmann represented Ward 5 on the Annapolis City Council from 2013, when he was appointed to replace Mathew Silverman, to 2017. The expected mayor-elect did not run for reelection in 2017, a decision he attributed to his positions on the True Value Co. board of directors and his own Annapolis Hardware store K&B True Value, now called K&B Ace Hardware.

He has campaigned on improving “basic core services” of the city, such as improving the city permit process and parking. Littmann said his campaign was based on “professional anti-chaos.”

“I’m going to be working really hard to make sure people are heard whether they voted for me or not,” Littmann said to the Capital Gazette on Tuesday night. “I want to be the mayor for all people in Annapolis.”

Littmann’s ability to get his campaign promises done partially relies on the City Council. The Thursday election results show Democrats holding on to every City Council position.

Ward 1

Incumbent Democrat Ward 1 Alderman Harry Huntley, who is vying for his first elected term on the City Council, leads after Thursday’s count with 976 votes. Huntley, who works in agriculture policy, was appointed to the City Council in September 2024 when the ward’s alderman, Eleanor Tierney, stepped down mid-term.

Unaffiliated candidate Tom Krieck, a former business executive and short-term rental owner, had 877 votes.

On Tuesday, in-person Election Day results had Krieck leading by 10 votes. Huntley gained ground with ballots mailed or placed in drop boxes. The Ward 1 election remained the tightest on the ballot, with 99 votes separating the candidates ahead of the final count on Wednesday.

Ward 2

Incumbent Ward 2 Alderman Karma O’Neill, a Democrat and events planner, remained in the lead with Thursday’s results. O’Neill had 876 votes. O’Neill has been on the City Council since 2021 and leads the council’s transportation committee.

Republican candidate Kenneth Vincent, a former FBI agent, had 471 votes.

Ward 3

Democratic candidate Keanuú Smith-Brown, a Wiley H. Bates Middle School social studies teacher, was still in the lead in the Ward 3 election with 567 votes.

The ward’s unaffiliated candidate, engineer Mike Dye, had 164 votes.

The current alderman, Rhonda Pindell Charles, did not run for reelection so she could make a mayoral bid during the Democratic primary. Pindell Charles earned support from about 32.9% of voters in the primary against Littmann.

Ward 5

Incumbent Democrat Ward 5 Alderman Brooks Schandelmeier, who works in health policy, maintained his lead Thursday with 597 votes. Schandelmeier has been on the council since 2020, when he was appointed to replace Alderman Marc Rodriguez.

Republican candidate Jack Papaleonti, a real estate agent, had 326 votes.

Ward  6

Community navigator Diesha Contee, a Democrat, was in the lead for Ward 6 alderman with 403 votes.

Republican candidate George Gallagher, who works in biotech, had 158 votes.

The ward’s current alderman, DaJuan Gay, did not run for reelection. At 22, Gay was the youngest alderman elected in city history when he was first was elected in 2019.

Ward 8

Democrat Frank Thorp, a former U.S. Navy communications officer, maintained his the lead for Ward 8 with 1,043 votes.

Unaffiliated candidate William Cunha, the owner of Oscar’s Coffee, had 612 votes.

The ward’s alderman since 2007, Democrat Ross Arnett, chose not to run for reelection.

Wards 4 and 7

Wards 4 and 7 both did not have competitive elections for their City Council representative.

Incumbent Ward 7 Alderman Rob Savidge, a Democrat, will keep his seat, and Annapolis political newcomer Democrat Janice Elaine Allsup-Johnson, a former Anne Arundel County government employee, will represent Ward 4.

Have a news tip? Contact Katharine Wilson at kwilson@baltsun.com. 

Jones was criticized during the campaign after text messages he wrote in 2022 endorsing violence toward a political rival were made public.

Jones is a former member of the state House of Delegates, representing a district around Norfolk for two terms.

According to unofficial election results, incumbent Bill Montgomery retained his seat, receiving 486 votes. Wassum received the second highest votes with 453. The two candidates with the most votes receive four-year terms on the council.

Lenora Robinson, who came in third, received 343 votes, incumbent Tim Lindecamp had 276 and Erick Stone received 214.

Last month, a police union called for Lindecamp to resign, which he refused to do, after police said he sought favorable treatment during a traffic stop of his stepson in June.

Lindecamp told The Baltimore Sun he believes the call for him to resign was an effort to “smear him politically” because he’s been advocating for the department to have fewer commanders and more patrol officers.

This will be Montgomery’s second term on the council. He was first elected to a two-year term in 2023, the start of staggered terms for council members.

Montgomery, 63, is an adjunct professor at Harford Community College and strategic adviser at Aberdeen Proving Ground.

Wassum ran for City Council in 2023 but lost by roughly 32 votes. The 53-year-old sales manager said he decided to run again because he wanted to continue giving back to his community.

Official election results will be available Friday around 12 p.m. once votes are certified following the canvassing of absentee and provisional ballots.

Council members will take the oath of office on Nov. 25 at 7 p.m. at Aberdeen City Hall in the council chambers.

Have a news tip? Contact Shaela Foster at sfoster@baltsun.com or 443-826-5894.

Sherrill will succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, marking the first time since 1961 that one party has won three consecutive terms in the New Jersey governor’s mansion.

The race was closely watched as a potential bellwether for the 2026 midterms.

Sherrill, a Navy veteran who represented a northern New Jersey district in the U.S. House for four terms, will be the state’s second female governor. The Associated Press declared Sherrill the winner at 9:22 p.m. EST.

Spanberger will succeed Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is not allowed to run for a second consecutive term. Her victory aligns with recent voting patterns in Virginia, which picks its governors the year after a presidential election and tends to elect someone of the opposite party of the president.

Spanberger, a former case officer with the CIA, flipped a U.S. House seat in Northern Virginia in 2018 and retired from Congress in 2024 to run for governor. She will be the state’s first female governor.

The Associated Press declared Spanberger the winner at 7:58 p.m. EST.

The election will determine the next mayor of Annapolis as two-term Mayor Gavin Buckley, a Democrat, leaves office and was unable to run again due to term limits. Democrat Jared Littmann, a former alderman and current hardware store owner, and Republican Robert O’Shea, who does consulting for the defense and medical industries, are running against each other to be the next mayor.

About 2,725 people had voted in person in Annapolis as of noon Tuesday, with eight hours left to vote, and election staff had received more than 2,600 mail-in ballots by Monday.

Polling places around the city had lines of about 20 people at a time at some points in the day, including in Wards 2, 3 and 5.

The first round of unofficial election results, which will include only in-person Election Day votes, was set to be released Tuesday night shortly after polls close. To view results, visit capitalgazette.com.

The hundreds of mail-in ballots and ballots placed in drop boxes could dramatically shift the election following the in-person vote count. As of Monday, the city had sent out 3,420 mail-in ballots, 2,618 of which had been received.

On Thursday, election staff will count ballots placed in drop boxes and mail-in ballots that have been received up to that point. The final election results will be available Nov. 12, when the election will be certified and any remaining mail-in ballots will be counted. Mail-in ballots must be received by election staff by 10 a.m. Nov. 12 and be postmarked by Election Day to count.

While election results were not available in time for publication of this story, there are voter participation counts available by the party voters are registered to. Any voter could have voted for any candidate on their ballot, regardless of their voter registration.

As of noon Tuesday, 57% of in-person voters citywide were registered Democrats. About 67% of mail-in ballots received by Monday were from Democrats.

Throughout the city, candidates made their last appeal to voters, standing outside polling places with signs, treats and policy proposals.

O’Shea’s mayoral campaign had an electronic billboard on a van near the City Hall polling place and large signs plastered across the city promoting his plans to rein in property taxes.

Littmann’s campaign got a boost from a City Hall stop-in from Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, who touted the city’s Democratic candidates after he voted in his local polling booth.

“I’m so excited about what this is going to mean for the future of Annapolis, what it’s going to mean for the future of Maryland,” Moore told the Capital Gazette. “Now is the time for us to move fast, for us to be able to drive forward, for us to not just be able to push back against what we’re seeing from the Trump administration, but push forward, push forward for a new and a future-facing vision for the state of Maryland and for Annapolis.”

Ward 1 Alderman Harry Huntley said he had volunteers door-knocking on Tuesday, reminding residents to vote in the election.

Other candidates pulled out the stops to get more voters to the polls, including Ward 2 Republican alderman candidate Kenneth Vincent’s wife, Kerri Vincent, who was driving a van to the polling places from multiple senior living facilities and a public housing building in the old 4th ward.

“So we rented a van today and we are going on the hour, every hour, all day long, picking people up,” she said.

Capital Gazette reporters Benjamin Rothstein, Maggie Trovato and Bridget Byrne contributed to this article. Have a news tip? Contact Katharine Wilson at kwilson@baltsun.com. 

But voters will go to the polls Tuesday dozens of states, deciding everything from local tax measures to high-profile races that could impact national politics. In short, Tuesday is the most significant election in the United states since last November, experts say, when President Trump defeated Kamala Harris in the presidential race, and Republicans maintained control of the House and Senate. It’s also being viewed as a way to gauge the pulse of voters a year before the 2026 elections, when control of the House, Senate and governor’s offices will be up for grabs.

“Tuesday has become an early referendum on Trump,” said Larry Gerston, a professor emeritus of political science at San Jose State University. “There are different states, different turnouts and different issues. But that’s the overall theme.”

A CNN poll Monday showed voters aren’t happy. Trump’s approval rating was 37% — the lowest of his second term. A majority of voters said his polices have worsened the economy, hurt America’s standing in the world, and that his immigration crackdown has “gone too far.” But the same voters had an even lower view of the Democratic Party, giving it just a 29% approval rating.

Five key races to watch Tuesday:

1) Proposition 50

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide ballot measure, if approved by voters, would redraw California’s congressional districts in a way that could cost five Republicans their seats, tilting the state’s delegation from the current 43 Democrats and 9 Republicans to 48-4 after next year’s elections. Newsom and Sacramento Democrats placed the measure on the ballot after Trump pushed governors in red states, including Texas, to redraw their district lines this year, instead of every 10 years after the Census, as had been the custom, in an attempt to boost Republicans’ chances of keeping control of the House of Representatives next year.

If Democrats win the House in 2026, they could impeach Trump again, haul his cabinet secretaries under oath before investigations, and block funding for everything from new offshore oil drilling to expanded immigration detention centers. Republicans led by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — who worked hard to create California’s non-partisan commission that draws district lines — have fought Prop 50. But Democrats have outraised opponents $122 million to $44 million. Polls show the measure leading in California, a state Trump lost by 20 points last November. If it passes, Newsom’s national profile as a 2028 presidential candidate will be boosted.

2) Virginia

Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin will leave office due to term limits in this purple state. Former congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, a moderate Democrat and former CIA agent who has focused on cost-of-living issues, is running to succeed him against Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, a Trump supporter and former Marine. Spanberger is leading in the polls, particularly as the federal government shutdown has hit Virginia residents hard. Whoever wins will be the first female governor in Virginia history.

A big question mark: Whether Democrat Jay Jones can hang on to beat Republican incumbent Jason Miyares in the attorney general’s race. Jones led until last month. But the National Review published text messages Jones sent to a fellow state lawmaker wishing a Republican state leader and his family would die. Jones also was cited in 2022 for driving 116 mph. As part of a plea deal, he performed 500 hours of community service for his own political action committee. His image and poll numbers have suffered.

3) New Jersey

The other marquee governor’s race Tuesday is in the Garden State, where a close battle is playing out. Democrat Mikie Sherrill, a four-term member of Congress and former Navy helicopter pilot, faces Republican Jack Ciattarelli, a former state Assemblyman who came within 3 points of defeating incumbent Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy in 2021.

A normally reliable blue state that has voted for the Democratic nominee for president in every election since 1992, New Jersey has occasionally elected Republicans as governor, most recently Chris Christie in 2009 and 2013. Sherrill holds a narrow lead in the polls. But Harris only defeated Trump there in November by 5.9%, and Ciattarelli, with Trump’s backing and solid fundraising, is looking for a breakthrough win.

4) New York City

Three candidates are vying to run America’s most populous city: Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, 67, a Democrat who won four statewide elections, only to resign his Albany office in 2021 amid sexual harassment allegations; Republican Curtis Sliwa, 71, who founded the Guardian Angels crimefighting group; and state lawmaker Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old Democratic Socialist who has built momentum with charismatic speeches, clever social media and promises to raise taxes on billionaires, provide free bus service and a pass a $30 minimum wage. Mamdani, a darling of progressives nationwide, is leading in the polls, even though many traditional Democratic leaders, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, have not endorsed him or Cuomo.

5) Pennsylvania

Few states are more important in winning the presidency than Pennsylvania. After voting for Obama twice, Keystone State voters shifted to Trump in 2016, embraced Joe Biden in 2020, and veered back to Trump last year, awarding him their 19 electoral votes.

Democrats hold a 5-2 majority on the state Supreme Court. Three Democratic justices — David Wecht, Christine Donohue and Kevin Dougherty — face yes-no retention votes, in which voters will decide whether to keep them on the bench. Republicans are pushing hard to remove them, which would shift the court to a 2-2 tie before elections in 2027 add new members. A deadlocked chamber could have major impacts on the 2028 presidential race if disputes over voting, ballot counting or other elections questions make it to Pennsylvania’s highest court.