I mentioned in a
previous post about how Republican lawyers that want to be judges in Allegheny County will switch their party registration to Democrat just so they have a chance at winning. There is already one former Republican running for judge in Allegheny County (
Craig Stephens). Mr. Stephens switched his party registration in 2008.
However, there is at least one other candidate that is a former Republican and she was a little more blatant about switching just before the first time she ran for judge.
Jennifer Satler switched her party registration from Republican to Democrat in January of 2009. She then started circulating petitions to run for judge in February of 2009. She ended up running without the Democratic endorsement.(The City Paper has a
great piece about what the endorsement means or doesn't mean.)
I decided to go back and really read the letters (
this and
this) that Ms. Satler has been sending out to the Democratic Committee. Many of the candidates talk about how they have been involved in helping Democrats get elected or how they have been involved in causes that are more likely to be championed by Democrats. Ms. Satler never seems to mention anything than, 'as you can see, I have lots of support from Democrats.' It is almost as if she is avoiding talking about her political beliefs. Maybe that is because she has never helped Democrats get elected, since she can't even take the
time to vote. Actually, maybe that is how she helps the Democrats. If she really is a Republican, then not showing up does help elect more Democrats.
I've also been told that she is one of 2 candidates running for judge that are 'not recommended' by the Allegheny County Bar Association. I can't seem to verify this information and was told that Bar Association does not list their ratings until just before the Primary Election. Although she was rated 'not recommended' in
2011 and 'unqualified' in
2009.
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