Wednesday, November 05, 2003

By Dennis B. Roddy, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Democrat Max Baer last night led what was shaping up to be a Democratic sweep in statewide judicial contests, handily outpacing Republican rival Joan Orie Melvin for a spot on Pennsylvania's Supreme Court.

	At his headquarters in the Omni William Penn Hotel, Democrat Max Baer looks over the returns showing his lead last night over Joan Orie Melvin in the election for Pennsylvania Supreme Court. At right is campaign volunteer Anne Fisher. (Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette)

"I think I had coattails," Baer said last night. "We always knew that's the way these races work. It's hard for Superior Court candidates to break through, because they don't have money."

But Democrats did appear to be breaking through in the Superior Court race. Philadelphia Judge Seamus McCaffery, Lehigh County Jurist Jack Panella, and Westmoreland County Judge John Driscoll all held leads.

The potential sweep comes just two years after the Democrats lost all seven statewide judicial races in the 2001 elections.

"We've picked ourselves off the floor," Baer said. "We ran cooperative campaigns. Seamus McCaffery had my back every second in Philadelphia. Every time something was going on and Joan was making a move, Seamus was there to save me."

As Baer's camp celebrated, the scene at Melvin's election night headquarters, a rented meeting room at the Pittsburgh Marriott North, was desolate. Two dozen people were on hand and by the waning hours of Tuesday, Melvin remained at her Wexford home, saying she was awaiting returns from the state's Republican center.

The contest pitted two Allegheny County jurists in an off-year statewide election that verged on the negative at points. A Baer victory would still mean a 4-3 Republican majority on the state's highest court, a majority likely to hold until the year 2009, when Justice Sandra Schultz Newman reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70.

With 78 percent of 9,421 statewide precincts reporting, Baer led Melvin 55 percent to 45 percent. Baer benefited from a heavy turnout in Philadelphia, where the chance discovery of an FBI bug in the mayor's office appeared to trigger a huge turnout in favor of incumbent Democrat John Street, the target of the listening device.

Baer also received a boost from Allegheny County, where he was ahead with 60 percent of the vote, running ahead of Democratic Controller Dan Onorato, who was on his way to unseating Republican Jim Roddey as County Executive.

"It has been a wonderful journey. It's been humbling and it's been back-breaking. Nobody ever worked harder. But on the other hand, nobody had a more dedicated team," an elated Baer said last night, shortly after his victory became apparent.

He suggested that his winning margin over Melvin might have represented a backlash by voters displeased with attacks on his record, for which he blamed Melvin's camp.

The contest pitted Baer, 55, of Mt. Lebanon, a judge on Allegheny County Common Pleas Court since 1990, against Melvin, 47, an Allegheny County judge who joined Superior Court in 1998.

Baer took advantage of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that freed judicial candidates to discuss controversial issues, and touched on flashpoint topics that included abortion rights and the death penalty and gun control. Baer said he favors all three.

Melvin avoided specific stands in her campaign, although she deftly pointed out her endorsement by groups opposing most forms of legal abortion.

The campaign was marked by some acrimony, with Melvin's allies attacking Baer's record as a judge in juvenile court. Melvin herself avoided direct criticism of Baer throughout the campaign, but a series of anonymous, recorded telephone messages in the final weeks alternately praised Melvin's record and sought to remind voters that Baer, as a judge in Allegheny County family court, had rejected a child welfare agency's request to remove a child from the home of an elderly man who was once convicted of child molestation.

"Those were not anti-abortion calls. Those were not anti-gun control. Those were calls about the molester case. Those calls came from her research and her campaign," Baer said. "I think maybe you saw some backlash."

The custody decision was later reversed, but Baer's opponents latched onto the issue and publicized it and the Republican-controlled state Legislature moved through a bill to prevent recurrences -- a bill that passed the weekend before election day and was quietly signed by Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell.

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