Pennsylvania’s judicial-retention balloting last year was an eye-opener, but not because of which candidates’ retention bids were successful.

Rather, what was remarkable — and troubling to many people of this commonwealth — was the total amount in cash and the value of other support dumped into the campaigns on behalf of those seeking the voters’ ballot-box approval.

According to a Spotlight PA article, at least $18.7 million was poured into the state Supreme Court election, and the Keystone State’s 2025 retention races were deemed likely to be among the five most expensive elections of their kind in American history.

“Painting” that picture was Douglas Keith, a deputy director of the New York-based Brennan Center, who tracks judicial elections.

For Pennsylvania residents troubled regarding the spending total, the key point of concern is that courts and their decisions should not be guided by special interests and money. The conduct of judges and their decisions and rulings should be independent of anything else but determining what’s right and what’s wrong and who’s right and who’s wrong.

Perhaps that is what will happen, at least for the most part, but having witnessed so much special-interest money injected into the campaigns, many voters and non-voters alike will be uneasy about what might transpire as a result — what that money will buy.

The following two paragraphs from the Dec. 29 article add to what’s been said above:

“Historically, the goal and intention of the retention elections are for voters to base their decision on a judge’s performance, Deborah Gross, chief executive of advocacy group Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, told Spotlight PA. But looking at 2025, ‘money has now reared its ugly head.’

“Judges, she added, are ‘not accountable to the public. They’re accountable to the Constitution and the rule of law, and the public shouldn’t really be influencing that. They really need to be independent.’ This level of spending — and fundraising it entails — could threaten that independence, she argued.”

Adding to that was Jim McErlane, a lawyer and 2016 Republican National Convention delegate, who said, “Judges should not have to worry about their popularity with anyone.”

All that said, it cannot be ignored that this year is a mid-term election year that will, in the realm of campaign contributions across the United States, attract hundreds of millions of dollars aimed at boosting the chances of incumbents and political newcomers.

On the national level, all U.S. House seats will be on the ballot, as well as about half of the Senate seats. And, of interest to Pennsylvania residents, the same will hold true regarding the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

Some of the states, including Pennsylvania, also will have gubernatorial contests on their ballots.

There already have been predictions that this year’s elections might be the most vocal, as well as the most expensive, mid-terms in America’s history.

Beyond that, some people already are speaking openly, calling this year’s elections the most important of America’s 250 years of existence.

Meanwhile, on the “bitterness scale,” 2026 elections seem destined to be at or near the top, when stacked against other years’ campaigns.

America still is the greatest country on this planet, but there still are plenty of reasons to be unhappy, angry or suspicious about what is happening here.

For now, the best advice probably is to be alert and pay attention for hints about questionable money influence.