HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania voters will settle contests Nov. 8 for a pair of open seats on the state appellate bench, along with deciding who will fill local posts that include district judgeships, county and municipal offices and school-board seats.

Harrisburg lawyer Vic Stabile, a Republican, and Allegheny County Judge David Wecht, a Democrat, are competing for a seat on the state Superior Court, which handles most criminal and civil appeals.

Two lawyers from Bucks County — Democrat Kathryn Boockvar and Republican Anne Covey — are vying to fill an opening on the state Commonwealth Court, which specializes in such matters as lawsuits against the state, appeals of decisions by state agencies and election litigation.

All four candidates boast positive ratings from a Pennsylvania Bar Association panel and were nominated by their parties in the May primary. In their campaigns, they have touted their professional qualifications, but struggled to raise money to afford TV advertising in the low-profile contests.

Wecht led the field in fund raising as of Friday, the deadline for campaign finance reports covering the five weeks ending Oct. 24. His total contributions climbed to $512,000, leaving a $322,000 balance.

Stabile had raised $198,000 so far and had about $120,000 on hand, according to his report.

Boockvar raised $352,000 and had $130,000 on hand, while Covey had received nearly $343,000 with a balance of $234,000, according to summaries provided by their campaigns.

Wecht received $300,000 from a trial lawyers’ group, the Committee for a Better Tomorrow, donations that accounted for nearly all of the near-quadrupling of his campaign war chest since late September.

The same group gave $25,000 to Stabile’s campaign, its largest contribution of the reporting period.

A report released this week by three national legal-reform groups cited the growing cost of judicial election campaigns in Pennsylvania and other states that elect judges as a threat to impartial justice and public confidence in the court system.

The report said the $5 million-plus cost of the Pennsylvania’s 2009 Supreme Court campaign was the second-most-costly judicial race in the 2009-10 cycle. It said more than half of the money came from trial lawyers and the state Republican Party.

Wecht, the only candidate who received the bar panel’s “highly recommended” rating, said he is grateful for the trial-lawyer group’s generosity and that his campaign’s acceptance of the money does not pose an ethical conflict for him. “My track record speaks for itself,” he said, adding that fellow lawyers understand that “`I’m beyond reproach and I can’t be bought by anybody.”

Wecht, 49, the oldest son of forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht, said he has experience as a county judge since 2003 and as a lawyer in private practice. He previously was twice elected as the county’s register of wills.

Stabile, 54, has managed the Harrisburg office of the Dilworth Paxson law firm since 1992, and has nearly three decades of legal experience as well as recent service as an elected township supervisor in Cumberland County and pro-bono work for clients who need a lawyer but cannot afford to hire one.

Covey, 51, of New Hope was the first woman appointed to the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, a position she held from 2002 until she stepped down in April to concentrate on her campaign. She owns a private firm that specializes in labor law and typically represents management clients.

Boockvar, 43, of Doylestown served for two years as the Pennsylvania attorney for the Advancement Project, specializing in voting rights cases, and spent a decade in private practice gaining experience in civil rights, open records and disabilities.

The winners of the judicial races will serve 10-year terms. The present salary for judges on both courts is $178,914.