IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Representative Bryan Cutler, :

Leader of the Republican Caucus :

of the Pennsylvania House of :

Representatives, :

:

Petitioner :

:

 v. : No. 588 M.D. 2022

:

Leigh M. Chapman, Acting Secretary :

of the Commonwealth, The :

Pennsylvania Department of State, :

and The Board of Elections of :

Allegheny County, :

:

Respondents :

O R D E R

AND NOW, January 13, 2023, upon consideration of the Emergency 

Application for Special Relief in the Nature of a Preliminary Injunction (Emergency 

Application for Special Relief), filed by Petitioner Representative Bryan Cutler, 

Leader of the Republican Caucus of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives; the 

Preliminary Objections filed by Intervenor Joanna E. McClinton, Leader of the 

Democratic Caucus of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (Intervenor 

McClinton), and Proposed Intervenor Pennsylvania Democratic Party (PDP), 

respectively; the Petition for Intervention filed by Proposed Intervenor PDP, which 

Petitioner opposes; and Intervenor McClinton’s Emergency Application for 

Disposition on Motion Pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1972 (Emergency Application for 

Disposition), and the answers and Briefs in Support of and/or in Opposition thereto, 
and following argument before a panel of this Court on January 11, 2023, it is hereby 

ORDERED as follows: 

1. Petitioner’s Emergency Application for Special Relief is DENIED, as 

Petitioner has failed to establish that he is entitled to the emergency 

preliminary injunctive relief he seeks. Specifically, Petitioner has 

failed to prove, inter alia, that he has a clear right to the relief he seeks, 

that he will suffer immediate and irreparable harm without the 

preliminary injunction, and that the preliminary injunction will not 

adversely affect the public interest. It is thus hereby ORDERED that 

the special elections to fill the vacancies in the 34th and 35th 

Legislative Districts of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 

currently scheduled for February 7, 2023, shall be held on that date.

2. Intervenor McClinton’s Preliminary Objection as to the nonjusticiablity 

of the claims made by Petitioner in his Petition for Review in the Nature 

of a Complaint for Declaratory Judgment is SUSTAINED, as 

Petitioner raises nonjusticiable political questions regarding which 

party in the House of Representatives has the majority and, 

concomitantly, who in the House of Representatives has authority to 

act as Majority Leader and issue writs of election for special elections 

to fill the enumerated vacancies following the adjournment sine die of 

the House on November 30, 2022, but prior to the House convening for 

the 2023-2024 session. See Perzel v. Cortes, 870 A.2d 759, 764 (Pa. 

2005); Sweeney v. Tucker, 375 A.2d 698, 704-12 (Pa. 1977).1 

1 Because this Preliminary Objection is dispositive, the Court declines to rule on Intervenor 

McClinton’s other Preliminary Objections. 
3. Proposed Intervenor PDP’s Petition for Intervention and Preliminary 

Objections, and Intervenor McClinton’s Emergency Application for 

Disposition are DISMISSED AS MOOT. 

Opinion to follow.

__________________________________

MICHAEL H. WOJCIK, Judge