Pa. election 2025: What to know about Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas and Municipal Courts candidates

Farnese is a familiar face in Philly politics, having served three terms in the Pennsylvania state Senate where he was Judiciary Committee minority chair and co-founded the LGBTQ Equality Caucus. He has taught law at both Villanova and Temple law schools. Farnese ran for a Court of Common Pleas seat in 2023 before withdrawing from the race.

Farnese is rated “Recommended” by the Philadelphia Bar Association and is endorsed by the Philadelphia Democratic Party and Working Families Party along with the National Organization for Women, Philadelphia Neighborhood Networks, ​Eastern Atlantic States Carpenters, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98 Laborers District Council, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 33, AFSCME District Council 47 and Teamsters Local Union 830.

A Philadelphia native, Ghee holds a master’s degree in public health in addition to a law degree from Drexel. She most recently served as executive director of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, where she led anti-hate initiatives, developed social justice awards and expanded fair housing programs. She also worked as a labor and employment attorney in the city solicitor’s office. Her platform includes promoting equity and reducing systemic bias in the courtroom, enhancing access to justice for marginalized communities, and initiatives aimed at reducing disparities in the legal system.

She is rated “Recommended” by the Philadelphia Bar Association and endorsed by the state Democratic Party as well as several unions including Philadelphia AFL-CIO, Philadelphia Building Trades, Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters, IBEW Local 98, Laborers’ District Council and AFSCME District Council 33 and the National Organization for Women.

King graduated from UMass Boston and Temple Law. He began his legal career as a city solicitor and later served as Philadelphia’s first openly LGBTQ+ prisons commissioner. He oversaw a $271 million system and introduced reforms, such as electronic health screenings and mental health reentry initiatives. He now teaches criminal justice at Drexel University, which he’s done since 2004. He once faced the justice system himself at age 19 for a theft charge and says that experience gives him a deep sense of empathy for the people who appear before the court.

This is King’s fifth run for the bench. He’s “Recommended” by the Philadelphia Bar Association and endorsed by the Democratic party and unions including AFSCME Council District 47, Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the National Organization for Women.

Braveman is a Temple Law graduate and former law clerk in the very court he hopes to join. He previously served as an assistant and deputy city solicitor in the City of Philadelphia Law Department in the Health and Human Services Unit, handling child welfare and mental health cases for 12 years before entering private practice. He now works in employment law and represents unions, including AFSCME Local 696.

This is his second run for judge. He has the endorsements of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and the Working Families Party along with AFSCME District Councils 33 and 47, and the National Organization for Women. Braveman is rated “Recommended” by the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

Kisielewski also began his career clerking the Court of Common Pleas and worked in the Post Conviction Relief Act & Habeas Corpus Appeals Unit, reviewing post‑conviction petitions — an experience he cites as formative in understanding how the courts affect life outcomes. From there, he founded the Elder Justice and Civil Resource Center, the city’s first court‑sponsored office providing legal help to low‑income and elderly litigants facing civil issues like eviction, expungements and housing instability.

Kisielewski earned a “Recommended” rating from the Philadelphia Bar Association and is endorsed by the state Democratic Party and several unions and other organizations, including IBEW Local 98, Laborers District Council, AFSCME District Council 33, AFSCME District Council 47, the National Organization for Women and the Philadelphia Gay News.

A refugee from the former Soviet Union, Ehrlich has practiced criminal defense, immigration and guardianship law for more than a decade. After earning her Juris Doctor from Temple University, she spent 13 years working as an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia, prosecuting serious felony cases such as attempted murder, drug trafficking and unlawful gun possession. In 2013, she opened her own law practice focused on criminal defense, immigration matters and guardianships, representing clients in state and federal courts. The Philadelphia Bar Association rated her as “Recommended,” and she is endorsed by the Democratic Party and the Working Families Party.

A Philadelphia native, Stefanski attended law school at Widener University and began his career as a law clerk for a judge in the Court of Common Pleas. He went on to serve six years in the District Attorney’s Municipal Trial and Major Jury Unit. Later, he spent years in private practice — including representing union members through legal benefits programs — and has served as an arbitrator in the city’s Court Arbitration Center since 1997. He is endorsed by the Democratic Party and was rated “Recommended” by the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

Watson‑Stokes served as a homicide prosecutor with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office for 18 years. She has received multiple accolades for her work, including the “Woman of Distinction” award from the Barristers’ Association of Philadelphia, and the Distinguished Public Service Award from her alma mater, The Catholic University of America. She is “Recommended” by the Philadelphia Bar Association and endorsed by the state Democratic Party as well as Philadelphia NOW, Liberty City LGBTQ Democrats, the Philadelphia Gay News and The Philadelphia Tribune.

Jones graduated from Delaware Law School and has represented clients in family law matters, such as custody and child support as well as felony defense cases in state and federal court. She is admitted in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and, last year, successfully argued a case before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. She is endorsed by the state Democratic Party and Working Families Party, and was rated “Recommended” by the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

Russo is a South Philadelphia native who earned his Juris Doctor from the Widener University School of Law. He began his legal career clerking for judges on the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and went on to spend over a decade practicing personal injury law, founding his own firm in 2018. He is deeply involved in Democratic politics, having served as a committee person and judge of elections in the 2nd Ward, and currently chairs the Democratic City Committee’s Pro Bono Legal Team. His father, a former member of the Philadelphia Board of Revision of Taxes, was removed from that role by Common Pleas judges in 2009 for alleged improprieties.

Russo did not run in the Democratic primary but was granted what has been called a “magic seat” by the party. Russo is the only candidate in the 2025 primary to receive a “Not Recommended” rating from the Philadelphia Bar Association as a result of his declining to participate in the bar’s judicial review process.

Santiago, a Philadelphia native, also did not run in the primary but was given the opportunity to run in the general election by the party. She earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology with a concentration in deviance and the sociology of law from the University of Pennsylvania, her Juris Doctor from Temple University and a master’s degree in criminal justice from Saint Joseph’s University. She began in the Bronx District Attorney’s Office in the Domestic Violence Bureau, returned to Philadelphia as a judicial law clerk in the Court of Common Pleas and moved into private practice, handling criminal defense, family law and civil litigation on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants. She received a rating of “Recommended” by the Philadelphia Bar Association.

Roman earned her Juris Doctor from Widener University School of Law in 1990 and is running for her second term. She is best known for exonerating several people convicted of homicide and other crimes after the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office’s Conviction Integrity Unit reviewed their cases and found wrongful convictions, prosecutorial misconduct and constitutional violations. Some of those had served decades in prison before they were released. Roman also ordered the DA’s office to hand over their “do not call” list of police officers found to have lied or demonstrated racial bias. She is recommended for retention by the Philadelphia Bar Association.

Bright was admitted to the bar in 1977 and is finishing her first term on the court. In a high-profile decision, she rejected an attempt by lawyers in the case of the Philadelphia Catholic Church clergy sex-abuse scandal to dismiss the child-endangerment charges against William J. Lynn because of prosecutorial misconduct. She is recommended for retention by the Philadelphia Bar Association.

Before joining the court in 2016, Papademetriou spent more than two decades in public‑interest law, having served as managing attorney at the nonprofit Philadelphia VIP, which provides free legal services to low-income Philadelphians. She directed legal programs for domestic‐violence advocacy and worked as an assistant district attorney before ascending to the bench. She is recommended for retention by the Philadelphia Bar Association.

Sawyer is currently serving on the court’s Criminal Trial Division and running for her second term. Before joining the court, she ran her own law office for nearly 20 years in Center City Philadelphia. She is also the founder of the nonprofit The Sentencing Foundation, which focuses on fair‑sentencing reform, reentry support and reducing mass incarceration. She is recommended for retention by the Philadelphia Bar Association.

Schulman is also running for a second term. In a notable decision, she reduced a $2.25 billion jury verdict against Monsanto — originally awarded to a plaintiff who claimed the company’s Roundup weed killer caused his cancer — to about $400 million, citing excessiveness in the punitive damages portion. She is recommended for retention by the Philadelphia Bar Association.

Butchart is a Temple University‑educated attorney who was admitted to the bar in 1993. Butchart became the first openly LGBTQ person to be elected in the state when she won her race for the court in 2005 and has served across the Family, Criminal and Civil divisions. She is recommended for retention by the Philadelphia Bar Association.

Fanning earned Juris Doctor from Temple University, after which he served as an assistant dirstrict attorney in the Child Abuse Unit of Bucks County District Attorney’s Office. He then worked private practice in private practice for 25 years. He unsuccessfully ran for the Court of Common Pleas in 2011 but then won his current seat in 2015. He is recommended for retention by the Philadelphia Bar Association.

Olszewski is running for his third term having joined the court in 2005 where he is a supervising judge in the Family Court Division. The Temple University Law graduate worked in private practice. He is recommended for retention by the Philadelphia Bar Association.

Palumbo is also running for a second term but did not participate in the Philadelphia Bar Association’s review of candidates, so he did not receive a recommendation. In an investigation by the Philadelphia Inquirer on the wide disparity in penalties distributed by Philadelphia judges, the paper reported that Palumbo gave probation rather than more jail time to a man who tried to use a counterfeit bill at a Wawa. “People say we’re over-probating, we’re over-incarcerating, and nothing seems to work. But I want to keep trying,” he said.

Grey earned his Juris Doctor from Temple University and began his legal career as a law clerk for the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas before serving as a public defender and later entering private practice. His decisions have been under scrutiny recently, with many being overturned on appeal — about one in six of his Family Court decisions were overturned by the Superior Court. Some of Grey’s cases involved orders that allegedly placed children in unsafe situations. The Philadelphia Bar Association declined to retain him for retention.

DiClaudio is running for a second term. A former assistant district attorney, he also spent years in private practice as a defense attorney. His time on the bench has been marked by controversy as he is currently facing formal charges from the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board for allegedly attempting to improperly influence a colleague’s ruling and for failing to disclose past disciplinary actions during his original campaign. He’s also been accused of using his office to promote his wife’s cheesesteak restaurant. He has denied wrongdoing and did not participate in the Philadelphia Bar Association’s review.

Younge earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia School of Law. Before her election to the bench in 2015, she served as a deputy city solicitor in Philadelphia and an executive in the city’s Department of Human Services. In 2021, the Pennsylvania Court of Judicial Discipline suspended her for six months and placed her on probation for repeated improper conduct — which included illegally handcuffing parents and threatening to jail them, insulting litigants, and belittling attorneys — conduct the panel judged “blatant and inexcusable.” She later said she had “grown as a jurist.”

Davidson built her career handling criminal defense, personal injury and workers’ compensation cases in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. A graduate of Temple University’s Beasley School of Law, Davidson runs her own firm and has been endorsed by the Philadelphia Democratic Party, several labor unions and the National Organization for Women. She is rated “recommended” by the Philadelphia Bar Association.

Parkinson received his Juris Doctor from Temple University before becoming a Philadelphia prosecutor. He also has 20 years of experience in private practice representing clients in state and federal courts. He is rated “recommended” by the Philadelphia Bar Association.

Cohen is a tenant-rights attorney and lifelong activist with a focus on social, racial and economic justice. She is a longtime Democratic committee person and openly identifies as a “lesbian feminist Democratic Socialist.” Cohen’s legal work centers on housing justice, school equity and reforming the criminal legal system. She has run unsuccessfully for City Council multiple times. The Philadelphia Bar Association declined to recommend Cohen for the court.

A South Philadelphia native, Patton holds a Juris Doctor from Drexel University and is chief counsel to state Sen. Anthony Williams. He has worked to reform the criminal justice system in Pennsylvania, with a focus on probation reform, reentry support and the sealing of nonviolent criminal records. He has endorsements from the Democratic City Committee and the Working Families Party as well as major local unions. The Philadelphia Bar Association did not recommend Patton.

As a judge, Lewandowski has been presiding over many of the city’s Kensington wellness court cases and recently made news when he criticized Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration over how that court was being run. He is also marked as “Recommended” for retention by the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Judicial Commission.

Pew attended law school at Villanova University before clerking for a federal court judge, working in private practice and then at Independence Blue Cross until being appointed to the Philadelphia bench in 2000 by then-Gov. Tom Ridge. In 2023, Pew gained notoriety when she dismissed all charges against former Philadelphia police officer Mark Dial in the fatal shooting of Eddie Irizarry, ruling that prosecutors hadn’t presented sufficient evidence of a crime. The Bar Association has rated her “Recommended” for retention.

Shields is not only a sitting Municipal Court judge, but holds the role of president judge of that court, indicating leadership responsibilities in addition to his judicial duties. He is likewise included in the “Recommended” category for retention by the Bar Association.

First elected in 2019 and assumed office in January 2020, Conroy holds a Juris Doctor from Widener University and previously served as an assistant district attorney. Conroy is listed as “Recommended” for retention by the Philadelphia Bar Association.

A graduate of Villanova University’s School of Law, Frazier-Lyde was first elected to the Philadelphia Municipal Court in 2007. She worked for 17 years litigating federal and state civil and criminal cases before ascending to the bench. Among her distinctive credentials, she is the daughter of boxing legend Smokin’ Joe Frazier and a former world champion in women’s boxing herself. Apparently that didn’t motivate the Philadelphia Bar Association to endorse her, however, as they gave her a rating of “Not Recommended” for retention.