Three lawyers are poised to win ‘magic seats’ as Philadelphia judges after being nominated by Democratic ward leaders

Three Philadelphia lawyers are poised to win “magic seats” as city judges after being quietly nominated last month by Democratic ward leaders to fill vacancies on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Common Pleas Court candidates Jennifer A. Santiago and Joseph J. Russo and Municipal Court candidate Michael Parkinson will all appear on the ballot as Democratic nominees despite not running in the May primary.

And, with no Republicans in the race, they are all but assured victory.

“Magic seats,” sometimes called “golden tickets,” open up when incumbent judges file for retention but decide against running for reelection after the primary, allowing the parties to select nominees without the input of voters.

» READ MORE: ‘Magic seats’ create new Philly judges who don’t even have to campaign. Here’s how it works.

Philly’s Democratic ward leaders are open about what it takes to win their favor: being loyal and providing free legal work.

“They were here helping us a whole lot,” Democratic City Committee chair Bob Brady said of the chosen candidates. “When ward leaders need free representation … whatever they need, whatever commiteeperson has a problem, Social Security, a will. We don’t do murder or assault and battery or drugs [cases].”

All three “magic seat” nominees initially wanted to run in the May primary, Brady said. But they decided to hold off out of deference to the party, which always has more judicial hopefuls than openings to slot them into.

“Out of respect to the party, they withdrew their name,” Brady said. “Out of respect back, we had three openings.”

Common Pleas Court judges oversee major cases including felonies and civil cases with claims above $12,000. They earn annual salaries of $227,000 and serve 10-year terms.

Municipal Court judges make $222,000 per year, serve six-year terms, and hear smaller cases including traffic violations, landlord-tenant disputes, misdemeanors, and civil claims of less than $12,000.

The three candidates are all native Philadelphians, and each was championed by members of the city’s Democratic establishment, Brady said.

About four or five ward leaders pushed for Parkinson, he said. Santiago had the backing of City Council Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, who is the leader of the 50th Ward, Brady said. Politicians in South Philly supported Russo.

Brady’s job as party chair entails keeping the ward leaders from Philadelphia’s periodically warring political factions on the same page. That often means employing some blunt racial math when compiling slates of candidates from different parts of the city, he said.

“We meet and we pick who we think is deserving or somebody who was loyal,” he said, “and we wound up with a Hispanic, an African American, and a white.”

Parkinson, who is Black, is a criminal-defense attorney and former Philadelphia prosecutor with a degree from Temple University Beasley School of Law. He has been named to Super Lawyers’ peer-nominated list of top Pennsylvania attorneys every year since 2020, according to his campaign.

“I have continuously represented indigent clients in both State and Federal Courts and have never been subjected to any disciplinary action,” Parkinson said in a statement. “I love Philadelphia. I chose to raise a family and start a business here, even though my family and I have been victims of crime over the years. These experiences give me a well-rounded perspective on all aspects of court.”

Santiago, who is Latina, also graduated from Temple’s law school before serving as a prosecutor in the Bronx District Attorney’s Office, a law clerk with Common Pleas Court, and a private attorney with experience in criminal defense, family court, and civil law, according to her campaign.

She is now an attorney with Allstate Insurance Co., according to her LinkedIn profile.

“Ms. Santiago, a lifelong Philadelphian … believes in serving her community,” her campaign said in a statement. “She’s ready to serve her city by bringing this level of expertise, along with common sense justice to the bench.”

Russo, who is white, graduated from Widener University School of Law, clerked for Common Pleas Court Judge Frank Palumbo, and is now a personal injury attorney.

Russo said he has worked as an attorney for the party for more than 10 years, enabling him “to meet and work with citizens throughout the entire city,” and serves as chair of its pro bono legal team, which “provides free legal representation for citizens of Philadelphia who cannot otherwise afford it.”

“I am deeply rooted in this city and am committed to building a fairer city for everyone,” Russo said in a statement.

Russo is the son of Joseph A. Russo, an ally of former state senator and South Philly power broker Vincent Fumo, who was convicted on federal corruption charges, Brady said.

The elder Russo in 2009 was removed from the Philadelphia Board of Revision of Taxes for alleged impropriety by judges on Common Pleas Court.

Now, his son is set to become a judge on that same court.

Brady said the younger Russo “is without question one of the finest people we had down here” and “was in charge of all our legal work.”

Each election, the Philadelphia Bar Association rates judges “based on criteria such as legal ability, experience, temperament, administrative ability, integrity and devotion to improvement of the quality of justice.”

It gave Santiago and Parkinson a “recommended” rating and Russo a “not recommended.” The bar does not publicly disclose the reasons for its decisions.

Russo said he did not participate in the bar’s evaluation process.

When Philadelphia judges decide not to run for reelection, their successors are determined in open partisan races in which the candidates run in primaries and general elections.

In those contests, the candidates endorsed by the Democratic City Committee almost always win. But when it comes to “magic seats,” the party’s influence is even greater.

When ballot vacancies emerge too late to hold primaries, state law dictates that the parties, rather than primary voters, name their nominees. In deep-blue Philadelphia, that means Democratic ward leaders essentially handpick judges. And because voters almost never fail to reelect judges in retention races — in which the incumbents face no opponents, and voters decide whether to keep them on the bench by voting “yes” or “no” — the judges sometimes serve their entire careers without ever running in contested elections.

» READ MORE: Why Pa. voters are asked to choose ‘yes’ or ‘no’ for some judges on Election Day

This year, Common Pleas Court Judges Abbe F. Fletman and Glenn B. Bronson and Municipal Court Judge Martin Coleman filed for retention, but decided over the summer not to seek new terms, said John Brady, the party’s political director. (John Brady and Bob Brady are not related.)

The Democratic City Committee’s executive committee, which is made up of the 69 neighborhood-based ward leaders, then met via Zoom in early September to nominate Santiago, Russo, and Parkinson, and the state party ratified the choices the next day, John Brady said.

Critics of the process for selecting Philadelphia’s judiciary have long condemned the party for prioritizing loyalty over legal prowess. Bob Brady, however, contends that the party is merely following state law and that hyperlocal party leaders are effective evaluators of who should serve on the Philly bench because they are in touch with residents’ needs.

“What are we supposed to do?” he said. “Let them stay vacant?”

Staff writer Ryan W. Briggs contributed to this article.