Two seats on the Chester County Court of Common Pleas will be up for election in 2013, and a number of candidates to take those seats have already made themselves known.
On the Republican side, four candidates are definitely in the race, while it remains unclear if a fifth will attempt to get on the ballot. Former county prothonotary Allison Bell Royer, who withdrew early on from the 2011 GOP primary for Common Pleas, is one person very likely to run. Also seeking the Republican nomination are Patrick Carmody, who sought the GOP nomination for District Attorney in 2011; Steven Voight, an attorney with the Reed Smith law firm in Philadelphia; and Jeff Sommer, a West Chester attorney who ran for Common Pleas in 2011 as well but failed to earn the GOP nomination.
Another candidate whose name has been mentioned as a possible candidate is Anthony Verwey, an attorney at Unruh Turner Burke & Frees in West Chester, but it remains less clear whether or not he will run.
Meanwhile, two Democrats have announced their intentions to run. One of them is Thomas Purl, a Downingtown attorney and former Philadelphia public defender who unsuccessfully ran on the Democratic ticket for Common Pleas in 2011. The other is Julia Malloy-Good, a special master in the county Family Court.
More after the jump, including ratings from the local bar association and some notes from a local candidate forum:



