4 to seek Superior Court seats

HARRISBURG - Allegheny County Judge Cheryl Allen and Dauphin County Judge Bruce Bratton clinched the Republican nominations for two open seats on the state Superior Court, while Allegheny County Judge Ron Folino joined Christine Donohue on the Democratic ticket.

The four will compete in the Nov. 6 general election, and the top two vote-getters will win 10-year terms on the bench.

Bratton was the only one of the four nominees who had his party's endorsement heading into Tuesday's primary.

He attracted 33 percent of the vote to narrowly beat fellow GOP endorsee Jacqueline Shogan, a Westmoreland County lawyer who conceded defeat yesterday.

Allen led the voting with 35 percent, according to returns from 99 percent of the state's precincts.

"When I entered this race, I entered it because I had faith enough to believe that I could win," Allen said yesterday. "I really didn't think I'd win as big as I did."

Donohue, an Allegheny County lawyer, was the front-runner in the seven-way Democratic race with 26 percent of the vote.

Folino emerged as the second Democratic nominee yesterday afternoon, after his closest opponent conceded defeat and after the state Democratic Party issued a statement congratulating Donohue and him for winning the primary. Folino had 18 percent of the vote.

The only endorsed Democratic candidate for Superior Court, Philadelphia County Judge John Younge, lagged far behind.

For two openings on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the state's highest, voters followed party endorsements down the line.

Democrats nominated two Superior Court judges - Seamus McCaffery of Philadelphia and Debra A. Todd of Butler County. The Republican nominees are Michael L. Krancer of Montgomery County, the former chief judge of the state Environmental Hearing Board, and Superior Court Judge Maureen Lally-Green of Butler County.