The voters of Westmoreland County will vote on November 7th on the question of whether Common Pleas Court Judge Rita D. Hathaway should be retained for an additional ten-year term. Elected in 1997 and retained in 2007, Judge Hathaway was recently elected by the county’s ten Common Pleas Judges to serve as President Judge beginning in January 2018.
The Westmoreland Bar Association recently conducted a poll of 458 members to determine how the lawyers, who practice before Common Pleas Court Judge Rita Hathaway, answer the question of whether Judge Hathaway should be retained. Individual members were asked to vote either “in favor of” or “in opposition to" retention.
The results show that Westmoreland Bar Association attorneys overwhelmingly support Judge Hathaway with a substantial majority “in favor of” retention in the November election. Bar President Timothy Andrews announced the results as follows: Judge Hathaway – 82%.
"Member polls regarding the retention of local judges are an important part of our mission of community service and education," said Attorney Andrews. "Our goal in publicizing these results is to help voters be better informed when retaining judges.”
By law an incumbent judge can seek a new term in office on a “yes-no” retention basis in the general election. The election is non-partisan and non-political.
For additional information on the retention process, contact the Pennsylvania Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.