The Pennsylvania Senate on Dec. 18 confirmed prominent Senate Republican aide Drew Crompton to fill a vacancy on the Commonwealth Court and Pennsylvania Inspector General Bruce Beemer to fill a vacancy on the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas.

Beemer was confirmed by a vote of 49-0, but the vote to confirm Crompton was 42-7, after several Democrats in the Senate expressed reservations about his lack of experience as a judge and questioned his ability to be impartial because of his work with the legislature.

Crompton has worked for the Senate for more than 20 years and currently serves as the chief of staff and counsel for Pennsylvania Senate Pro-Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson. Crompton and Beemer were both nominated for judgeships by Gov. Tom Wolf in mid-November.

Crompton's nomination immediately received criticism from some lawmakers and government watchdogs, who argued that Crompton was unqualified for the job and that the nomination process lacked transparency.

Conservative group Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania said the nomination "embodies the swamp."

"Crompton's role in the Senate would raise serious questions about his impartiality in legal cases," the group said in a press release following the nomination. "How will his involvement in the drafting of legislation, public statements, and issuance of internal documents impact his ability to hear cases? How many plaintiffs or defendants will seek his recusal? How disruptive will it be for the Senate to have parties to cases file suits seeking email communications on legal matters authored by Crompton?"

Crompton, reached Friday, said the criticism has not surprised him.

"I didn't put my name in for this position thinking that the buglers were going to come out and everyone was going to be joyous," he said.

But he also said he recognizes that the only way he can prove his integrity and impartiality to critics is to actually demonstrate it on the bench.

"I understand what I signed up for," he said. "That is to leave one career behind and to start another. I have every intention to make a clean break from here on Jan. 6 prior to my swearing-in on the 7th. I don't have any interest whatsoever in keeping one foot in one camp and one foot in another."

Crompton faced questioning from several Democratic senators during his Dec. 18 confirmation hearing about whether he would recuse from matters involving legislation or special interests with which he had involvement or interaction during his time with the Senate.

He said during the hearing that he "will not be slow to recuse when warranted."

In an interview Friday, Crompton said the decision of whether to recuse would have to be made on a case-by-case basis because "it's very tough to have blanket recusals."

"I can tell you that I'm not going over there to try to manipulate that situation," Crompton said. "In rare cases where I need to recuse myself, it will say at the bottom of the opinion, 'Judge Crompton did not participate in this matter.'"

But Crompton reiterated that he does believe situations in which he will need to recuse will be rare, given that the majority of the cases the Commonwealth Court hears involve agencies with which he's had little to no interaction, such as appeals from local zoning hearing boards and unemployment compensation matters.

"If it was something I was actively involved in in this life, i will be inclined to recuse," he said, but added that before he makes a final decision, he'll still need to know all of the facts, including the parties involved and the specific situation at issue.

Crompton also noted that the decision of whether to recuse from a case is not always made unilaterally by the judge, with no outside input. For example, there are times when judges can disclose a potential conflict to the parties and ask them whether they believe the judge can be impartial. Conversely, parties can raise potential conflicts to the judge and request recusal.

But, Crompton added, "I'm not going to get trapped in this idea that someone can just wave blanket recusals around."

Addressing his lack of experience on the bench, Crompton said he's far from the first attorney to join the Commonwealth Court without having been a judge previously. But he said he believes his experience in all aspects of state government and his deep knowledge of many different state agencies will be an asset to the court.

On the same day as the confirmation vote, four Democratic senators announced their intention to introduce legislation designed to "increase transparency and public participation in the selection of judicial nominees to vacant positions."

The proposed legislation is co-sponsored by Sens. Anthony Williams, D-Philadelphia; Katie Muth, D-Bucks; Lindsey Williams, D-Allegheny; and Maria Collett, D-Bucks. Muth, Collett and Lindsey Williams all voted against Crompton's confirmation to the Commonwealth Court.

In their co-sponsorship memorandum, the senators said their bill would require that the Office of General Counsel post the names and application paperwork on its website for each candidate who has applied for a judicial vacancy. The posts would be required to stay up for 30 days.

"This will allow ample time for the public to review applicants and provide comment through OGC for the governor to consider when making their selection," the memorandum said. "Ultimately, the governor will retain the sole privilege of nominating individuals for the consent of the Senate. Any public comment will also be provided to the majority and minority chairpersons of the committee conducting confirmation hearings to allow committee members to take public comment into account prior to voting on judicial nominees for appointed vacancies."

The bill would also require a televised public hearing for nominees, affording equal time for questions from both the majority and minority parties, the memorandum said.

"As Pennsylvanians, we expect that the people sitting in judgment of our fellow citizens will be free from conflicts, fair-minded, and willing to consider both sides of a story to reach a just verdict. In order to maintain this trust, the process to appoint judges must reflect the same," the memorandum said.

Sens. Lawrence Farnese Jr., D-Philadelphia; Pam Iovino, D-Allegheny; Timothy Kearney, D-Chester; and James Brewster, D-Allegheny, also opposed Crompton's confirmation, but so far have not signed on to the proposed "Judicial Nominations Transparency" bill.

Beemer's nomination and confirmation to the Allegheny County trial court garnered significantly less media attention and controversy than Crompton's, though Beemer's been no stranger to the spotlight in recent years.

About a month after taking office as inspector general, Beemer was nominated in August 2016 by Wolf and confirmed by the Senate to serve as state attorney general, assuming control of the office during the tumultuous period following Kathleen Kane's resignation in the wake of her convictions on perjury and related charges.

Beemer, who was formerly Kane's first deputy, replaced Bruce L. Castor Jr., Kane's handpicked successor, who lasted less than two weeks in the role. Beemer returned to the Inspector General's Office in January 2017 after newly elected Attorney General Josh Shapiro was sworn in, but not before dealing with a few hot-button issues, including handling the release of the results of Washington, D.C., law firm BuckleySandler's $1.4 million investigation of emails captured on Pennsylvania government servers.

Beemer could not be reached Friday for comment on his confirmation to the Allegheny County bench.

Both Crompton and Beemer would serve on their respective courts until after the statewide judicial election in 2021, though both will be eligible to run for full terms if they choose to.

Crompton said he's "probably inclined to run" for a full term but likely won't know for sure until he's actually done the job for a year or so.

"You always want to give yourself some leeway" before committing to running for a full term, he said. "You want to be able to say you enjoy it."