HARRISBURG — Political spending has kicked into high gear in the final stretch of Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court race. After an election cycle in which political contributions were consistently dominated by a single libertarian billionaire, a Democratic-aligned group has also begun pouring millions into the race. Facing off for a vacant seat on the court are Republican Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas Judge Carolyn Carluccio and Democratic Superior Court Judge Daniel McCaffery.

Pennsylvania is one of a handful of states that elects judges in partisan contests, and these races have attracted big money in recent years as the court has handled weighty issues like election law and redistricting, and as abortion access has become a state issue.

In their expensive messaging to voters, Carluccio has attacked McCaffery over a decade-old scandal in which his brother, former state Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery, resigned after sending lewd emails from his government account. McCaffery’s campaign and his allies have portrayed Carluccio as an idealogue who opposes abortion rights and has cast doubt on the validity of the 2020 presidential election.

Carluccio, who reported bringing in about $3.4 million for the year in her September campaign report, raked in $2.7 million over the past five weeks in the form of donations and in-kind contributions from groups funding ads on her behalf. Most of her financial support throughout the campaign has come in the form of ads paid for by a political group tied to Pennsylvania’s richest man, Jeff Yass. This reporting period was no exception.