This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justices Christinie Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht survived their respective retention elections, earning new 10-year terms thanks to Pennsylvania voters. Candidates running for retention on other appellate courts, including Superior Court Judge Alice Beck Dubow and Commonwealth Court Judge Michael H. Wojcik, will also return to the bench for new terms.

2025 wasn’t just a banner election for Democrats – it also marked a year of historic wins across the commonwealth. In Downingtown, Democrat Erica Deuso became the state’s first openly transgender mayor to be elected; in Lancaster City, City Council Vice President Jaime Arroyo was chosen as the city’s first Latino mayor. Meanwhile, former Bucks County solicitor Joe Khan became the first Democrat in nearly 200 years to be elected as that county’s district attorney. And in Luzerne County, Democrats retook the County Council majority, winning four out of five contested seats.

Listen up to the bosses in the Burgs. In Harrisburg, Mayor Wanda Williams, who secured the Democratic nomination for mayor in May by just 80 votes, edged out City Treasurer Dan Miller, who launched a general election campaign against her on the Republican ticket. And in Pittsburgh, Corey O’Connor, who took down the incumbent Ed Gainey in the May primary, formally won the race for mayor, easily overcoming Republican rival Tony Moreno.

What’s an Election Day without some ballot blunders and subsequent conspiracies of voter fraud? While the commonwealth’s election was largely chaos-free, Chester County Commissioners were on the hook for a printing error. The county only printed pollbooks containing major-party voters, forcing third-party and unaffiliated voters to use provisional ballots or return later. The result: County polling sites stayed open until 10 p.m. – and lawmakers called for an investigation into the incident.

It’s difficult to know exactly how much money billionaire and conservative donor Jeff Yass, Pennsylvania’s richest man, lost on failed GOP candidates and causes this election cycle – but it’s safe to assume at least eight figures. That’s pocket change for Yass – No. 30 on Forbes’ list of the world’s richest people, with a net worth of $66 billion – but it’s still a substantial investment in commonwealth elections, which Yass hoped to influence through a network of political action and campaign committees. Following the Democrats’ Election Day wins, Yass announced he was donating $100 million to the “anti-woke” University of Austin and at least $2.5 million for President Donald Trump’s new White House ballroom.

While Democrats secured big wins across the country on Election Day, Republicans weren’t as lucky. In the commonwealth, the GOP failed to convince voters to reject three state Supreme Court justices running for retention, and also suffered losses in municipal races. Republicans also lost gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia, and failed to defeat a Democratic-led redistricting effort in California. Party leaders are already looking ahead to 2026, with hopes that they’ll fare better in the midterms.