McGinley sweeps Democratic, GOP primaries for county judge
For Allegheny County Common Pleas Court candidate Mary McGinley, the second time was the charm.
Ms. McGinley, who narrowly lost in the 2017 general election, was victorious in Tuesday’s primary on both the Republican and Democratic tickets, which means she will be the only candidate listed on the ballot for November’s general election. She received more than 75 percent of the vote among four Democratic candidates and had no opposition for the Republican nomination.
Ms. McGinley spent the evening at home with friends celebrating her daughter’s ninth birthday. She had spent the day visiting 26 polling locations to thank voters and poll workers.
“It’s a tremendous honor to serve the people of Allegheny County and I’m grateful they put their trust in me,” she said. “I know there’s a lot of work ahead.”
New judges often are assigned to the court’s family division and Ms. McGinley said she would welcome that assignment.
A partner with the law firm Meyer, Unkovic and Scott, Ms. McGinley, of Squirrel Hill, beat George Heym, Richard Joyce and Brian Malkin among the Democrats. She is all but guaranteed to win the seat in November for a 10year term, where the salary is $183,184 annually.
Ms. McGinley, who was rated as recommended by the Allegheny County Bar Association,
was cross-listed on both the Democratic and Republican ballots in the primary. Her opponents appeared only on the Democratic ticket.
Ms. McGinley’s practice is centered in the civil and orphan’s division of Common Pleas Court, and she also does pro bono landlordtenant work.
Mr. Heym, of Squirrel Hill, who spent seven years as an assistant district attorney, practices criminal defense.
Mr. Malkin, of Franklin Park, works with Ference
& Associates LLC in Sewickley, handling intellectual property law.
Mr. Joyce, of North Oakland, previously worked for the city in the 1980s and ‘90s, and now has his own private practice, Joyce & Bittner, which handles personal injury, as well as criminal defense work.