Vote on Tuesday, May 19! May 17 2009
For pro-life voters:
PA Pro-Life Federation Voter’s Guide
It was tougher than usual to make up my mind in this election because I actually have a number of good people to choose from. Here are my decisions and the reasons behind them:
Pennsylvania State Supreme Court
We Republicans have three great candidates to choose from: Cheryl Allen, Joan Orie-Melvin, and Paul Panepinto. In the end, I gave a slight edge to Joan Orie-Melvin, who will get my vote on Tuesday. Why?
Orie-Melvin proudly describes herself as a “strict constructionist” on her website. Allen and Panepinto do not. I’m also worried that Allen would be forced to recuse herself in any case dealing with abortion, which would make her ineffective as a pro-life judge, which is why I think the Post-Gazette endorsed her. Orie-Melvin was endorsed by the libertarian Tribune-Review due to her commitment to the law. As for Panepinto, I don’t like the rumors about him allegedly being involved in the Philadelphia political machine.
Pennsylvania State Superior Court
This one’s easy; I get to choose three and there are three Republican candidates endorsed by LifePAC and PA Pro-Life Federation – Temp Smith, Judy Olson, and Sallie Mundy.
Pennsylvania State Commonwealth Court
We choose two here and there are three Republicans endorsed by the pro-life groups. It might not be fair, but I am not going to vote for a candidate when her husband stands accused of stealing money from a widow. Even if Charles McCullough is innocent, and even if Patricia McCullough is not involved in this business, you can be sure that the Democrats will use this against her, and rightly so. This is a huge ethical cloud over her family’s head.
That leaves me with two people to vote for, and I get to choose two, so I pick Al Frioni and Kevin Brobson.
Allegheny County Common Pleas Court
This doesn’t apply to most of you, but fortunately it’s another easy one for me. I get to vote for up to five candidates. Phil Ignelzi and Michael Marmo are endorsed by LifePAC, so that’s two. The PA League of Young Voters has all of the candidates answering the question about Roe v. Wade, so in choosing the other three candidates to vote for, I need only to see which ones are the least pro-abortion in their answer.
Carolyn Saldari Bengel merely states that she would uphold Roe as it is current law. That’s an acceptable answer to me.
Michele Zappala Peck talks about her Catholic upbringing and seems to be someone who is “personally pro-life” but says that she would submit to precedent. That’s also acceptable.
Unfortunately, there is no fifth Republican candidate who is acceptable to me. Their answers show them all to be strongly pro-abortion. Because of this, I am going to write in Leah Williams-Duncan on my ballot. She is endorsed by LifePAC, but she’s a Democrat, which means I can’t vote for her directly.
City of Pittsburgh Mayor
I don’t live in the city so I can’t vote for mayor – I couldn’t really vote anyway since there are no Republicans running for mayor – but if I could, I would actually vote for Luke Ravenstahl. Why? Because he’s the most conservative of the candidates.
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Theresa Koshut May 18
Thank you so very much for placing this information online! Usually I am able to pick up a pamphlet at St. Boniface’s
Latin Mass on Sundays. However, Fr. Kenneth Meyers who does protest at the abortion clinic weekly, refuses to permit these flyers to be distributed in any way at the church. I wonder about his sincerity or whether he is a wolf in sheeps clothing!
I’ve been able to get these pamplets for years at church, but now have to rely on my own resources. It is a shame because I know votes will be lost! Please continue to post this online!