Why does it cost so much to be a judge?
Well, part of the reason is simple economics — it’s what the market will bear.
Think about street money, for a moment. Street money is the money paid to committee people and others who push the candidates on election day. There are 1,703 divisions (places where people vote) in Philadelphia at the moment. That means, potentially, 3,406 committee people. If you want to pay them each $200.00 on election day (the going rate where I’m from) then it comes out to $681,200.00. That’s real money.
Okay, now, pretend you have seven spots on the ballot for judge. This works out to about $97,000 per candidate. And this is just street money. Everyone wants their cut, of course, and there are other expenses that the Democratic Party here in town is shouldering (rent, utilities, staff) so the going rate always goes up, not down. Plus, there are other groups that want to get paid, too, and their support can make a difference as well.
Why is it so important to pay committee people? Two reasons. First, if they are regularly in touch with their neighbors through canvassing or other means, they can swing an election. And let’s be real — very few individuals, even regular voters, know or care about judicial candidates. So committee people can determine the outcome.
Second, it is the ward leaders who pay committee people. If committee people don’t get paid, they get antsy, and start thinking about overthrowing the current ward leader. But if the money is flowing regularly, this doesn’t happen. So, it is in the ward leaders’ best interest to keep the money flowing, and since they are the ones choosing judicial candidates, they set the price.
We can debate whether or not this is a good system, but it is not going to change any time soon.