HARRISBURG — The husband of a Pennsylvania appellate judge who is running for the state’s highest court began serving a prison sentence Tuesday in a long-running case involving taking money from an elderly woman’s trust fund to benefit several political campaigns and a charity connected to his wife.

Charles McCullough’s wife, Commonwealth Judge Patricia McCullough, is running for an open seat on Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court.

Patricia McCullough is seeking the Republican nomination in May 18’s primary election against two fellow Republican judges, Commonwealth Court Judge Kevin Brobson and Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Paula Patrick.

State Republican Party committee members raised the case during closed-door endorsement meetings earlier this year and it weighed on their decision, said one. The state party went on to endorse Brobson.

In a 90-minute candidates’ forum held last month, the subject of her husband’s case did not come up.

The moderator asked McCullough and other candidates why they want to leave their current judicial post for one on the state’s highest court.

“I think I bring a different perspective to the court,” McCullough said. “I believe in restorative and equal justice and I’ve worked with many, many programs to improve the system of justice, and I find that it’s most advantageous to be working at it from the very top down, although you can be very influential at this level.”

McCullough, 64, has served on the Commonwealth Court for 11 years, first elected to a 10-year term in 2009.