PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvanians who will soon put two new justices on the state's highest court can choose between candidates including a follower of conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and an admirer of former liberal Justice William Brennan Jr.

"The voters here have very different judges to choose from," said Superior Court Judge Debra Todd, a Democrat and Brennan admirer who believes the courts have a role in advancing civil rights.

At a candidate forum Wednesday in Philadelphia, Todd contrasted her judicial philosophy with that of Republican rival Michael Krancer of Montgomery County, a former chief judge of the state Environmental Hearing Board.

Krancer called himself a strict textualist who, like Scalia, would look only to the law as written.

"I want justices to pay attention to the text of the Constitution," said Krancer, who said judges should not let "personal predilections" guide their work.

The two other candidates, Republican Maureen Lally-Green and Democrat Seamus McCaffery, also serve with Todd on the state Superior Court.

"Last year I wrote 256 opinions and memos. We're really workhorses there," Lally-Green said.

Lally-Green said she does not legislate from the bench, but considers both doctrine and evolving court precedents.

McCaffery did not attend the forum, which was held at the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

The event came days after a federal court ruling that said judicial candidates can discuss issues on the campaign trail as long as they do not indicate how they would rule from the bench.

Only Krancer took full opportunity to opine, commending state Supreme Court Justice Ronald Castille for a recent dissent that would have given Philadelphians a chance to vote on an anti-casino referendum.

"I think Justice Castille in that case was directly dead-on," Krancer said.

Todd and Lally-Green acknowledged that they have had to raise most of their approximately $1 million war chests from lawyers and law firms. Krancer said most of his support comes from friends and family members.

All three called for more openness in court proceedings following the government pay raise debacle of 2005.

Lawmakers repealed the raises barely a week later, but paid the price anyway when 24 incumbents were turned out of office in the 2006 election. A few months before the election, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that restored only the judicial raises.