GOP Wins PA Supreme Court Seat: Election Results 2021

8:21 a.m.

After some analysts on social media prematurely called the race for Maria McLaughlin Tuesday night, Republican Kevin Brobson is the projected winner of the vacant seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Brobson held a 1,323,350 to 1,191,940 lead early Wednesday as mail-in ballots continued to be counted.

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Brobson, 50, previously judge on Pennsylvania's Commonwealth Court, will serve a 10-year term.

12:25 a.m.

Brobson: 1,172,484

McLaughlin: 1,062,401

12:01 a.m.

Brobson: 1,111,426

McLaughlin: 988,248

11:44 p.m.

Brobson: 948,070

McLaughlin: 906,508

11:18 p.m.

The latest updates have Brobson maintaining a small lead over McGlaughlin.

Brobson: 848,754

McLaughlin: 811,964

PENNSYLVANIA — While the dominant party will not shift, the dynamics of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court are facing a change Tuesday night as election results begin to trickle in across the commonwealth.

The state's highest court has one seat up for grabs, with Democrat Maria McLaughlin facing off against Republican Kevin Brobson. They're battling to replace a previously Republican-held seat from outgoing Justice Thomas Saylor. Saylor's retirement was mandated by age.

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As of 10:40 p.m., Brobson holds an early 758,526 to 742,742 vote lead over McLaughlin. However, officials are still in the process of counting some 700,000 mail-in ballots, which typically are comprised of voters leaning to the left.

Democrats currently control 5 of the 7 seats on the court, so the winner will not impact key decisions made by the court. However, the victory would be a symbolic one for either side: Democrats gaining dominance, or Republicans holding their ground. The race also marks the largest and most significant statewide race on the ballot for Pennsylvanians in the 2021 election cycle, which is comprised largely of municipal races like school boards and town councils.

This race was marked by heavy spending on both sides, and with the absence of any other major statewide races this year, it serves as something of a barometer for the year between President Biden's victory over President Trump here in 2020 on the one hand, and the much more high stakes 2022 midterm election on the other.