Three-way race for the new seat of the district judges lifts the 20th May main election Wyoming County Examiner

The race for the newly created second judge position for Wyoming and Sullivan Counties shows three candidates who are experienced lawyers in various phases of their lives and legal careers.

The candidates on May 20 are Richard “Rick” Huffsmith, Paul Litwin and Nina Sordoni.

They try to fill the second judge position in Pennsylvania in the 44th District of Justice, which includes the counties Wyoming and Sullivan – from January 2026. The position was created by the state legislator in December 2023.

Each candidate crossed both the democratic and the main republican main voting notes, since the district judge is regarded as an impartial position. All are registered Republicans.

The race could be effectively decided in primary school if a candidate wins both important party dominations according to the voice sum of both counties.

When a candidate wins the nomination of the Republicans while another wins democratic nomination, these two will face each other in the elections on November 4th.

The candidates have somewhat diverse background, but have agreed on most problems in three candidate forums organized by the Republican Committee of Wyoming County. Everyone has a campaign website and a Facebook page.

Here you will find information about the candidates:

Huffsmith, 68, lives in Tunkhannock. In 1974 he completed the Lackawanna Trail High School, 1976, the Keystone Junior College and acquired his juris Doctor degree at Temple University School of Law in 1982.

According to the legal faculty, Huffsmith moved to Dallas, Texas, where he handed over legal disputes for several large companies. In 1994 he returned to Northeast Pennsylvania to contribute to Juwal Cor Management & Consulting, Inc. as Vice President and General Counsel in Wilkes-Barre. He opened a law firm in Tunkhannock in 2013.

During the candidate forums and in campaign statements, Huffsmith emphasized the wide range of legal problems he had treated in his 42-year career.

In the forums, he said, one reason why he ran for the judge, be it to give something back to the community, since he and his deceased wife Lisa received strong support in the community during her long struggle against cancer before she died in 2021.

Huffsmith would reach the mandatory retirement age of 75 in 2031 if you are chosen. This means that he would not receive a pension, since until then he would not have the required 10 -year service years, as he pointed out in the first candidate forum. Some people wrongly claimed that a reason why he was running for the judge should build up the retirement provisions, said Huffsmith at the time.

Litwin, 56, lives in Factoryville. He completed the Lackawanna Trail High School, Bloomsburg University and the Widener School of Law. He opened a private practice in Tunkhannock shortly after his recording in 1995.

Litwin worked as a deputy district prosecutor for 12 years and also worked as a criminal defense lawyer. He has been a lawyer of Wyoming County since 2015 and is also the lawyer of numerous municipal corporations.

While the forums emphasized Litwin's width of his legal practice for over 30 years, but said that he has recently focused on municipal law. He said most members of the community know him through his legal work or his commitment in numerous group groups, of which he offered some free legal advisors.

Litwin and his wife Paula have two children in college. In the last candidate forum in his hometown Factoryville, Litwin pointed to friends and relatives in the audience. He again quoted his deep roots in the community as one of his main qualifications.

Sordoni, 38, lives in Exeter TWP. She grew up in Hazleton, received a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting at the University of Miami and acquired her juris Doctor degree at Villanova University School of Law.

Sordoni was admitted to the obligation to attend the lawyers in 2013. She is a founding partner at the SDS Family Law Group, who continues offices in forty and Tunkhannock. It specializes in family law.

In the forums, Sordoni said that she had decided to run for the judge after learning that the position was concentrated on family law, which she called her passion.

Sordoni, who lived and worked for a large part of her life in Lucerne County, said that she had moved to Wyoming County to run for judges.

She and her husband Jack moved to Exeter TWP. Shortly after they had married and a few months before the legislators approved the creation of the second judge position, said Sordoni. She said that she moved to Wyoming County at the time, she didn't know that a new judge position would be created.

The forums showed polite debates, although Sordoni and Huffsmith take different views on the importance of a family law background for the position.

Sordoni emphasized her background in family law matters and found that President Richter Russell Shurtleff announced that the new judge would concentrate on family law and civil cases while he continued to cope with all criminal matters.

Huffsmith referred to his long and far -reaching legal career and said that the new judge had to be assigned to him or her, not only for family court cases.

Sordoni and Huffsmith continued to make their points on the question of family law in Posts on their campaigns.

In the forums, all three candidates stated that it is important that a judge in all matters that come to court remain neutral and refrain from expressing opinions on legal or political issues.

Everyone said they would get back from a case in which a potential conflict had arisen and would never be set by the bank.

They agreed that the judges had to be ready and able to work for a long hour, and for everyone who appears in court in front of them must be fair.

All cited a list of community and professional organizations that they belong.

Judges of the district court will receive a salary of 227,441 USD this year. This is likely to increase in 2026, since increases for state judges and legislators are based on the consumer price index.

Originally published: May 11, 2025 at 12:43 p.m. Edt