National Democratic apparatus banking on candidates in Pa.

For most voters, Pennsylvania’s statewide judicial elections Tuesday may be a snoozer.

Democratic leaders, however, hope Election Day provides a wake-up call that their party is bouncing back from the 2016 victory of President Donald Trump. That’s why Michael Blake, a New York legislator representing the Bronx and one of the Democratic National Committee’s five cochairs, found himself at the South Side’s Sokol Club on Friday night.

The election “sends a message and sets a tone,” Mr. Blake said during a rally to support the Democratic judicial slate. “And Western Pennsylvania sends the broader message because we have to demonstrate that we can engage outside the core urban centers.”

Some Democrats privately express concern that the party hasn’t taken a more active role in the judicial elections.

Republicans have been far more visible on television.

But saying the DNC is disengaged, said Mr. Blake “is just wrong.”

The DNC is providing state parties $10,000 a month to shore up operations, he said.

And along with gubernatorial contests in New Jersey and Virginia, Pennsylvania’s election “will demonstrate what is the momentum on the ground against Trump. … And it will give us guidance about what kind of races to run in 2018.”

One race in the balance will be a March special election in Western Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District.

Although pundits agree the district once held by Tim Murphy remains highly favorable for Republicans, Mr. Blake called it “one of the critical races we’ll spend energy and focus on.” Democrats need to win 24 seats to gain a House majority, he noted, adding, “You can’t follow that path unless you go through Pennsylvania.”

The DNC faces numerous challenges on the way. Mr. Blake’s visit, in fact, came one day after former interim party chairwoman Donna Brazile publicly asserted that 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton had bailed out the DNC’s finances — in exchange for leverage over party decisions.

That account breathed new life into the suspicions of aggrieved supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who challenged Ms. Clinton for the Democratic nomination last year and complained the party apparatus helped her win.

“This is a new DNC” with new leaders since 2016, Mr. Blake stressed. “Yes, we understand that people are going to be upset. But are we going to continue to relitigate a race that we did not win, when on Tuesday we have a chance to send a major message in this country?”

Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, for one, struck a note that was both optimistic and slightly guarded.

Next week’s election “could be an early indication of how 2018 will go,” he said shortly before addressing the Democratic rally. “But it won’t be the only one.”