Wolf Nominates Republican Judge to Fill Eakin’s Supreme Court Seat

L: Courtesy of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania; R: Courtesy Governor Tom Wolf via Wikimedia Commons

Governor Tom Wolf nominated Superior Court Judge Sallie Updyke Mundy to fill a vacant seat on the Pa. Supreme Court.

Mundy would fill the seat formerly held by Justice J. Michael Eakin, a Republican from Cumberland County who resigned earlier this year in the wake of the Porngate email scandal. Eakin was the second Supreme Court justice to resign over the emails, following Seamus McCaffery, a Democrat who left office in 2014.

Wolf announced the news — along with a slate of other judicial nominees — Monday alongside Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman and Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa.

Mundy, 53, is a Republican. If Senate members confirm the nomination, she’ll hold the seat until the start of the next 10-year term, which begins in January 2018. Elections for the term will be held next year.

Wolf said Mundy could also seek the 10-year term on the Supreme Court, according to the Inquirer. Typically, interim justices are not expected to run for a full term following their appointment, PennLive reports.

With Mundy, the state’s highest court would again hold seven justices. Mundy would be the second Republican on the court, along with Chief Justice Thomas G. Saylor. Saylor turns 70 this year, which is currently the mandatory judicial retirement age.

Mundy attended Washington & Jefferson College and the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Law and has volunteered as a public defender in Tioga County. She has 20 years of private practice experience.

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