The Men’s Club of Congregations of Shaare Shamayim recently sponsored a candidates forum at the synagogue in Elkins Park.
Candidates who appeared were state Supreme Court Justices David Wecht and Kevin Dougherty; Superior Court Judge Alice Beck Dubow; Daniel Wassmer, running for Superior Court; Amanda Davidson, for Municipal Court; and Rob Gurtcheff, in next year’s race in the 170th Legislative District.
Paul Kaplan, a Shaare Shamayim member, organized and moderated the forum. Jacques Lurie, the synagogue’s executive director, was also on hand.
Surrogates were not permitted to speak for candidates, so First Deputy City Controller Bill Rubin discussed the workings of his office and urged a “yes” vote in Dougherty’s retention campaign. City Controller Christy Brady is running for re-election.
City elections commissioner Lisa Deeley showed a large printout of the ballot and asked people to vote in every race.
“Vote the whole ballot,” she said.
Deeley said people who vote by mail have less of a tendency to “undervote,” and Dougherty thanked her for putting the Supreme Court retention races on the front of mail ballots.
Democrats Dougherty, Wecht and Christine Donohue are seeking another 10-year term on Supreme Court, though Donohue is soon to be 73 and will have to retire in two years.
Wecht said he, Dougherty and Donohue have good records on redistricting, public education and the environment. If they lose, he said, Senate Republicans will not approve replacements nominated by Gov. Josh Shapiro and there will be only four justices remaining.
“No work will be able to get done,” he said.
Dougherty recalled former U.S. House Speaker Tip O’Neill, who learned early in his political career the importance of asking people for their vote.
“Would you please press yes for each of us on Nov. 4,” he said.
There is no campaign against Dubow, who is seeking retention, but she worries that people who vote “no” on the Supreme Court races will also vote against her.
Wassmer, running on the Liberal Party ticket, said the court system is too politicized and there is too much money in politics. He will not accept political action committee money. He supports the continued election, not appointment, of judges. He previously ran for attorney general as a Libertarian in 2020 and for Senate as a member of the Keystone Party in 2022.
Gurtcheff, a Democrat, will be challenging Republican Rep. Martina White next year. He was invited by Kaplan, his fellow 66th Ward Democratic committeeman. White, who attended the forum last year when she was unopposed, was not invited this time.
Gurtcheff is a U.S. Army veteran who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, a kidney donor and a lay leader at United Methodist Church of the Good Shepherd. He helped feed and secure city services for area homeless people. He called for judges on the ballot to be retained. In his campaign, he vowed to knock on every door in the district three times.
Someone in the crowd asked whom he was running against, and he mentioned White.
“She is much prettier than I am,” he said. ••
