Vote for the Planet: Key 2025 Elections in PA and NJ

Apr 21

Important Upcoming Local Elections that will impact the environment:

PA Primary Elections: May 20, 2025

NJ Primary Election: June 10, 2025

General Election: November 4, 2025

Two special elections went blue. 2025 has already seen eventful elections in Pennsylvania. On March 25, in a special State Senatorial election, Democrat James Malone beat Republican Josh Parsons in a district that a Democrat hadn’t won since the end of Reconstruction, decreasing the Republican margin to 4 seats, 27-23. Republicans have ruled the PA Senate since 1994. Dems split the State Senate in 1992, Bill Clinton’s election year, but since then, this is as close as the Democrats have come. On the same day, in the PA House special election, Democrat Dan Goughnour trounced Republican Charles Davis, restoring the slim Democratic edge in the State House. This bodes well for Democrats this year.

Philadelphia Democratic Primary for District Attorney - May 20th.
In Philadelphia, incumbent DA Larry Krasner – the first of a national wave of progressive prosecutors – is running for a third term this year. In the May 20th Democratic primary, he faces opposition from a judge, Patrick Dugan, who calls himself a moderate. Although Krasner’s second term saw a peak of crime in Philadelphia during COVID, the Philadelphia jail population is now down 40 percent and the murder rate through March is as low as it has ever been in modern history. There are no DA candidates in the Republican primary so the Democratic primary will likely be determinative.

New Jersey Primary for Governor - June 10th.
The New Jersey Democratic primary on June 10 for Governor is wide open, and Politico has characterized the strong list of candidates as a race of “six rock stars.”

Mikie Sherrill is the only woman in the race and is considered the favorite. She favors environmentalism as a way to reduce economic damages and create jobs. Steven Fulop, the Mayor of Jersey City, is a strong environmentalist and has made Jersey City an outpost of sustainability. He is a scrappy guy who has gone after the NJ Democratic establishment, which is a good thing. And Ras Baraka, the son of the activist-poet Amri Baraka, is the Mayor of Newark and is into environmental justice. Steve Sweeney has union support and does not put the environment among his issues. Josh Gottheimer is a Clinton speechwriter and Microsoft exec and also does not feature the environment in his issues. Finally, Sean Spiller, the former Mayor of Montclair and head of the powerful New Jersey teachers’ union, strongly supports the environment but is mired in scandal in his hometown.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Retention Ballot - November 4th.
In the fall, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will have four justices, one Republican and three Democratic, up for a retention vote—a simple yes or no vote on whether a justice who has completed a ten-year term should be retained in office. Historically, the justices are almost always retained, but this year’s vote will be more contentious. Democrats have a 5 to 2 margin on the Supreme Court but if the three Democrats are voted down and the Republican retained, the court would be tied, 2 to 2. There would be three vacancies to be filled in 2026. Republicans are planning to spend millions of dollars to get out the vote against Democratic Supreme Court retention.

While a Democratic majority in the Supreme Court is crucial for maintaining fair voting maps and addressing many other issues for democracy, it is also vital to the environment. Pennsylvania has had an Environmental Rights Amendment since 1971, but the past Republican State Supreme Court rendered it toothless for four decades. That doctrine, which gutted Pennsylvania environmental rights, was only fully repudiated by the Court in 2017, after the Democrats gained control in 2016. The Court that year held that the Environmental Rights Amendment requires that the proceeds of state oil and gas leases on public lands must go to supporting natural resources. It more recently rebuked the State for not considering the Environmental Rights Amendment in its arguments concerning the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative’s legal basis.

The Pennsylvania Environmental Rights Amendment reads:

The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the

     preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic

     values of the environment. Pennsylvania's public natural

     resources are the common property of all the people, including

     generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the

     Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of

     all the people.

Thus, preserving the Democratic edge in the PA Supreme Court is extremely important for the Pennsylvania environment.

There are also numerous local municipal elections as well as school board elections. Everyone we vote for must understand the climate crisis. Our local municipalities need to plan for the impacts of the climate crisis and take actions to mitigate it, such as those advocated for by Ready for 100. Our school boards must ensure that climate change is taught in our schools and that our school buildings and transportation move towards sustainability, as advocated for in the Climate Reality Project’s Green Schools Campaign.

Want to make a difference right now?
Help boost voter turnout in these crucial 2025 elections by joining Indivisible Philadelphia’s postcarding campaign. It’s an easy, effective way to reach voters in key races like the Philly DA primary, the New Jersey governor’s race, and the PA Supreme Court retention vote. You can write from home — your postcards could help tip the balance on climate-critical issues. Get started here

Voting for the planet is more important than ever.