This is not one of those years.

After a primary election winnowed down a ballot of 33 Democratic and Republican candidates for 11 city judgeships - and a dose of political tough love from party leaders persuaded seven more candidates to withdraw - Philadelphia voters will find few choices on Tuesday. The ballot will name seven candidates for seven judgeships on Philadelphia's Common Pleas Court, and four candidates for four Municipal Court judgeships.

A total of 17 sitting judges - 9 from Common Pleas Court, 6 from Municipal Court and 2 from Traffic Court - are also on the ballot on a retention vote, a plebiscite in which voters are asked whether a judge should be allowed to serve another term.

They almost always are.

For a contested judicial election, Philadelphia voters will have to turn their attention to Pennsylvania three appellate courts - and not many are.

"Even among political junkies, I have to say I haven't heard of anything even on the state judicial races," said Zack Stalberg, president of the election-watchdog group Committee of Seventy.

Common Pleas Court is the city's basic trial court for criminal and civil cases. Judges serve 10-year terms, then face a retention vote. Judges earn $161,850 a year and those with administrative duties earn slightly more.

The candidates for the seven Common Pleas Court judgeships are:

Robert Coleman, a litigation attorney with 26 years' experience in disability and workers-compensation law.

Angeles Roca, appointed to the court last year by Gov. Rendell and now running for a full term.

Diane Thompson, a family-law practitioner since 1991.

Donna Woelpper, a court master in Family Court since 2006, handling custody and support matters for two years and now assigned to juvenile and delinquency cases.

Dan Anders, appointed in 2007 by Gov. Rendell to a vacant judgeship; Anders has since served on Family Court. He's the first openly gay judicial candidate.

Adam Beloff, a South Philadelphia native, veteran general practitioner, and member of a family well-known in city politics.

Roxanne Covington, a trial lawyer and former member of the Philadelphia Human Relations Commission. She is the only candidate not recommended by the Philadelphia Bar Association.

All candidates are cross-filed except Covington, who appears only on the Democratic ballot.

Municipal Court is the entry-level court for most people charged with a crime in Philadelphia. Judges earn $158,105 annually, serve six-year terms, and then face retention.

The candidates - all cross-filed - for the four Municipal Court judgeships are:

Dawn A. Segal, a veteran lawyer with experience as a "judge pro tempore" in Common Pleas Court.

Charles Hayden, a lawyer for more than 25 years. Hayden has also served as counsel to U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, a Philadelphia Democrat; as an environmental lawyer with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and as in-house counsel for Waste Management Inc.

Joseph C. Waters Jr., a former Philadelphia police captain with 14 years of practicing law; also an adjunct professor at Community College of Philadelphia.

Pat Dugan, appointed to a vacant judgeship in 2007 and now seeking a full term; a U.S. Army combat veteran of Iraq and Bronze Star recipient.

Nine Common Pleas Court judges are on the ballot on a retention vote for another 10-year term: Sandy L.V. Byrd; Ida Chen; Pamela Pryor Dembe, the court's current president judge; Richard J. Gordon; Glynnis Delbert Hill; Benjamin Lerner, who handles pretrial motions for all murder cases; Annette M. Rizzo; Karen Shreeves-Johns; and Sheila A. Woods-Skipper.

Six Municipal Court judges are up for retention for another six-year term: Frank T. Brady; Barbara S. Gilbert; Lydia Y. Kirkland; Gerard A. Kosinski; Marsha H. Neifield, the court's current president judge; and Craig M. Washington.

Though judges almost always win their retention votes, Washington's election is being watched because of an incident earlier this year in which he removed a photograph of slain Police Officer John Pawlowski from his court.

Washington said he did so because he was presiding over one of the court's divisional rooms, in the 35th Police District headquarters in Ogontz. The divisional courtroom shares space with the police roll-call room. Washington said he wanted to avoid appearing less than impartial as he conducted trials.

The action outraged the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, which represents city police officers and called for a "no vote" on Washington's retention.

Finally, two Philadelphia Traffic Court judges - Bernice Ann DeAngelis and Earlene Green - are up for retention. Traffic Court judges earn $85,050 and serve six-year terms.