By the middle of October, the eight candidates running for open seats on Pennsylvania's appellate courts had more than $4.5 million on hand, with an additional nearly $2.4 million banked up in in-kind contributions, according to campaign finance records.

The candidates, vying for spots on the Supreme, Superior and Commonwealth court benches, received donations from hundreds of individuals and Political Action Committees—known as PACs—hailing from Pennsylvania and beyond.

But it is only two PACs that account for the largest single chunk of money going to the state's judicial races, providing the candidates with $1.82 million in donations and nearly $1.6 million in in-kind contributions since the beginning of the year.