Who is the Superior Candidate For Superior Court?
By Bob Small
The Pennsylvania Superior Court began in 1895 Superior Court of Pennsylvania and is one of our two statewide intermediate courts.
The 15-member court handles criminal cases along with civil cases not involving government. A seat has been vacant since Judge Daniel McCaffrey was elected to Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2023.
Currently, the Superior Court has eight Democrats and six Republicans.
Competing in the May 20 Republican primary for the nomination to fill the seat are Marie Battista and Anne Marie Wheatcroft.
Marie Battista served as assistant general counsel for the state Department. departments of health and state under governors Corbett and Wolf. She was also a prosecutor in Franklin and Venango Counties along with being a contract specialist for the Department of Defense.
“For those of you who know me well, you probably know that I never intended to be a lawyer. I wanted to a Radio City Rockettet, ” she has said.
She is a graduate of Keystone High School and Clarion University and obtained her law degree from Ohio Northern University. She also has a Doctorate in Education Leadership from the University of Pittsburgh and a master’s degree from Westminster College.
Chester County’s Ann Marie Wheatcraft has served on the Chester County’s Court of Common Pleas since 2012. She introduced “comfort dogs” in Chester County Courtrooms. Judge Wheatcraft had been an assistant district attorney in Chester County.
She has earned her undergraduate degree from Penn State University and her J.D. from the University of New Hampshire Law School. She has volunteered with the Boy Scouts of America and the Avon Grove Wildcats Football League
Judge Wheatcraft is endorsed by the Republican Party of Pennsylvania. Marie Battista is endorsed by those skeptical of the state GOP.
It should go without saying at this point, if you want actual representation and constitutional principles, then vote for the candidate running against the GOPe endorsed candidate. Period.
“There’s an old saying in Tennessee – I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee – that says, fool me once, shame on – shame on you. Fool me – you can’t get fooled again.”