Parties’ nominee, independent seeking district judgeship open seat
One hopeful said has wanted to be a district judge since he was in high school. His opponent said he saw events unfold during the spring and chose to enter the race as an independent.
Running for an open seat in the magisterial district that includes Peters, Nottingham and Union townships and Finleyville are Jacob Machel, who was the sole candidate on the ballot until Jesse Pettit, the independent, filed nomination papers over the summer to place his name on the Nov. 7 ballot.
The scenario began eight months ago when District Judge James Ellis, on the last day to circulate and file nominating petitions, announced his impending retirement after 30 years in office.
Machel had begun gathering signatures on petitions on the first day in February that the law allowed, and he said Monday he told his mentor he intended to challenge him in the May primary.
“The probability would be that (Ellis) would win,” Machel said in a phone interview. “I just wanted to get out there and do it. It’s been circulating around that this was set up. That couldn’t be further from the truth. (Ellis) has taken a lot of flack that’s unnecessary.”
Machel, who played junior and minor-league hockey before graduating from Washington & Jefferson College, said he has spent 400 hours in magisterial courtrooms in Allegheny and Washington counties, including Ellis’ in McMurray. He works in commercial real estate and owns rental properties, which he’s said has given him experience in handling landlord-tenant cases.
In June, Machel took the minor judiciary education course offered by the state and obtained certification after passing an exam.
Pettit, an attorney, is exempt from taking the minor judiciary course.
Citing his own experience as a practicing attorney who was a prosecutor with the attorney general’s and Philadelphia district attorney’s offices, he said his firm also represents commercial clients in landlord-tenant matters but that it does not comprise a large part of his practice.
Machel is the same age as Ellis when the former Peters policeman was elected to the magisterial position in 1987, and he said he wants to spend as many decades in the office as Ellis has.
Because he is not an attorney, Machel said he won’t use the district judge’s position as a stepping stone to run for judge or district attorney and pointed out only one of the 11 district judges in Washington County is a lawyer.
Asked at a League of Women Voters forum Sunday about any other political ambitions he may harbor, Pettit, whose late father was a longtime Washington County district attorney, said, “I did not have any intentions of jumping into politics. I don’t have any intention of using this position as a stepping stone, (although) I’ve heard my opponent state it.”
Pettit said voters who may have received speeding tickets have asked him why he wants to run for traffic court.
“There are extremely complex legal matters that come through a magistrate’s office,” he said, citing the recent Penn State fraternity hazing death case, a preliminary hearing that lasted seven days, as an example.
Machel noted there is no jury in a magisterial court, and it’s up to a district judge to decide if the prosecution has established enough evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime occurred to send the matter to a higher court.
Machel declined to participate in the League of Women Voters’ event at the Peters Township library. “Why wasn’t there one for the other offices that were running?” he asked. “I won both tickets, and I’ve been in this town for a long time.”
Pettit, who with his wife built a home in Venetia a few years ago, has spent most of his law practice in business litigation and family law. Pettit said, if elected, he will continue to “maintain an ownership in my legal practice” in Pittsburgh. State law enumerates restrictions on the practice of attorneys who are also district judges.
Magisterial District Judge
Salary: $89,483
Term: Six years
Democrat-Republican
Jacob Machel
Age: 29
Address: McMurray
Education: Bachelor’s degree, Washington & Jefferson College
Occupation: Commercial real estate broker
Independent
Jesse Pettit
Age: 43
Address: Venetia
Education: Bachelor’s degree, Ohio University; law degree, University of Pittsburgh
Occupation: Partner in Pettit & Spontak law firm