Democrat Jill Beck wins seat on Pennsylvania Superior Court
PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) — Democrat Jill Beck has won a seat on the Pennsylvania Superior Court, the Associated Press projects.
Republicans Maria Battista and Harry Smail and Democrats Timika Lane and Beck are running for a pair of open seats on the Superior Court. The Associated Press has not projected the winner of the second seat as of Tuesday night.
The Republican ticket features Smail, who is a Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas judge, and Battista, who is a lawyer in Clarion County. Smail started his tenure in Westmoreland County in 2015.
Battista was counsel for the Department of Health, as well as the Department of State. She also was a hearing examiner for the Department of Corrections.
As for the Democratic ticket, Beck, a Pittsburgh native, is a civil litigator at Blank Rome LLP. She currently resides in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
Lane is a Court of Common Pleas judge after being elected to that position in 2013. The West Philadelphia native served as the chief legal counsel for a state senator and the executive director for the Pennsylvania State Senate State Government Committee.
Both seats on the Superior Court were open due to a Republican judge retiring, and another judge reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75. The 15-member court hears appeals of civil and criminal cases from county courts.
