Local Democrats host five-county judicial swing event

By Emily Wright

WOODWARD TOWNSHIP, PA – The Clinton County Democratic Women (CCDW) and Clinton County Democratic Committee (CCDC) hosted a Judicial Swing Picnic event Friday evening at Riverview Park.

In attendance were Dan McCaffery, a candidate for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and Timika Lane, a candidate for Pennsylvania Superior Court. Also in attendance were State Representatives Malcolm Kenyatta, and Alan Butkovitz. Candidates enjoyed food provided at the picnic and mingled with those who came to support them.

Judge McCaffery is a November candidate for the vacant position on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Judge Lane is running for one of the two vacant judge positions on state Superior Court.

Judge McCaffery, a Philadelphia resident, served in the First Cavalry Division in the US Army and is the only military veteran currently serving on Pennsylvania’s Appellate Courts. Judge McCaffery later attended Temple University and Temple Law School on a veteran’s scholarship. At Friday evening’s judicial swing event, he spoke briefly about his background, “At 18, I joined the Army. I was a former prosecutor and I ran my own law firm. Ever since I was 18, I was a soldier; I was a prosecutor, I was a trial judge, and I was an appellate judge. I’ve taken an oath to defend and support the Constitution. More importantly, the rights enshrined by the Constitution.”

“I’ve been involved in democratic politics my entire life. My mom was a union organizer. My dad was a union organizer. I’ve been on the picket line since I was 18 and I tell people, I’ve run, I’ve been involved in dozens and dozens and dozens of judicial campaigns from Magisterial Judges all the way up to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court,” he told the crowd.

Judge McCaffery was appointed Judge of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania in 2020. He advanced from the Democratic primary in May of this year.

Born and raised in West Philadelphia, Judge Lane was elected to the Court of the Common Pleas in 2013. Prior to her career in the legal field, Judge Lane taught social studies to middle school students in Prince George’s County, Maryland. In 2002 she received her Juris Doctor degree from Rutgers-Camden School of Law in New Jersey.

Judge Lane has presided over a wide range of legal matters, some of which involved human trafficking, rape, attempted murder cases, cases involving the Consumer Protection Act, breach of contract, and mortgage foreclosure to name a few.

Upon her appointment to the Court of the Common Pleas, Judge Lane was first assigned to the Major Trials program in the criminal division. She supervised human trafficking cases and also presided over serious felony criminal matters, some of which involved domestic/family violence, sexual assault, attempted murder, arson, robbery, and burglary. She has also presided over Investigative Grand Jury matters. Judge Lane is currently assigned to the Complex Litigation jury trial program in the Civil Division.

Judge Lane spoke at the swing event about the importance of electing knowledgeable judges. “There is a different energy out here right now, and what’s even more apparent is the urgency of electing judges who care, who know the law. This ticket right here, the four of us; Judge McCaffrey, highly recommended by the bar. Jill Bette, highly recommended by the bar. I’m highly recommended by the bar. Matt Wolfe is recommended by the bar. When we think about the task at hand and what is at stake, we need to put the best in the game.”

Also in attendance Friday evening was Representative Kenyatta, who currently serves in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Kenyatta, a resident of North Philadelphia, has served in the House of Representatives since 2019. He earned a B.A. in Public Communications and a minor in Political Science from Temple University, a M.S. in Strategic and Digital Communications from Drexel University and completed the Harvard Kennedy School’s Executives in State and Local Government program.

Representative Kenyatta spoke about gun safety policies Friday evening during his speech, stating, “We understand that we don’t have to accept the false choice between respecting the Second Amendment and keeping people safe in their schools, keeping people safe in their faith communities, and keeping people safe in their homes. So what did we do? We moved along three bills; one failed by one vote, but three very simple concepts. The first is to say that if you get a weapon, we ought to do a background check on you. We shouldn’t have these huge loopholes that you can drive a truck through, but instead, anybody who gets a weapon gets a background check,”

According to Kenyatta, “Eighty plus percent of Pennsylvanians agree with that, including a lot of legal gun owners who say, ‘Hey, yes, I respect the Second Amendment, but I also respect
keeping people safe and keeping weapons out of the hands of people who ought not have them.”

On Saturday they were to attend events in Potter, McKean, Elk, and Jefferson counties.