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In the hype of elections, the courts are often overlooked, and often overlooked in Pennsylvania, is the Commonwealth Court.

It’s a court that is unique to Pennsylvania—it's one of two intermediate appellate courts that is responsible for matters involving state and local governments, and regulatory agencies.

That’s where Paul Lalley hopes to spend his next 10 years. As a lawyer, Lalley often practiced in front of the court that he calls “unusual,” and he is now running for the first time to sit on the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court.

Lalley is just one of five candidates The Takeaway is profiling in our new series, "The Rookies." We're exploring what it's like for first-time candidates running democracy's first lap.

Lalley acknowledges that judicial elections often go unnoticed, particularly in off-year election cycles. But due to the time that a judge serves, and the impact that courts have, he hopes that his running will be able to shed some light on the court’s functionings.

“Judges tend to serve a very long time—usually 20 years or more before they hit mandatory retirement,” notes Lalley. “So it’s an important event when you have a seat open on an appellate court where people...have a right to vote and decide that. And it’s just something that doesn’t get as much attention in the media, I think, as it deserves.”

Rather then running on campaign platforms, Lalley simply wants to show citizens that he is fair, and will act like a judge should: Theoretically removed from partisan politics.

“When you run for judge, you aren’t promising any type of platform or policies, you’re really just promising to do what your duty is as a judge, and to be fair and impartial, and act thorough and diligent in how you conduct your duties. And that’s all I would certainly hope to do if I were lucky enough to win.”

Lalley says that his wife, Jessica, has known that this has been one of his dreams for quite some time. He credits his family’s support for his success so far.

“Pennsylvania is a big state. And you realize that when you have to drive from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, or up to Scranton, or the north central part of the state," he says. "So I’m away from home a lot, and I knew going into this process, which was really the end of last year, that it would take a lot of time away from home. You just can’t do this without the strong support of your spouse and your family.”

Even if he doesn’t win, Lalley feels that he is currently playing an important role as an educator, speaking with citizens who might not know the importance of a court that could affect their daily lives.

“What I’ve found really fascinating about doing this and running for office like this, and talking to people about this, is just how much, particularly for a judicial position in Pennsylvania, part of what you’re doing is educating people about this court and what it does," he says. "Part of what you do when you go out and run for office like this is just giving them a 30 second civics lesson when you get to talk to them about what you’re running for and why.”