Go ahead, name one person running for state Superior Court.

I’ll wait.

See, the way judges are elected in Pennsylvania is kind of a crapshoot. Nobody knows who these people are and the candidate who runs the most TV commercials always wins. It doesn’t seem to matter because once they’re elected, we never hear from them again.

But this year’s state Superior Court race is of special interest to those among us who follow politics for its comedic value.

This year’s state Superior Court race could be decided by a squirrel.

A squirrel named Nutkin.

How Nutkin became a major player on the state political stage is a tale of a squirrel and the people who kept the squirrel as a pet and the state Game Commission and Schuylkill County Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin, a Republican who is one of the guys running for state Superior Court.

The story begins with Jean and Barbara Gosselin, who live in Orwigsburg, a town of about 3,100 in Schuylkill County. Previously, the Gosselins had lived in South Carolina — they moved there 25 years ago for Jean’s pilot job — where they adopted Nutkin’s mother, Amy. Amy gave birth to Nutkin in 1994 and then died.

At about the same time, the Gosselins were planning to return to Pennsylvania, Barbara’s home state, and build a retirement home on some acreage Barbara’s father gave them. They couldn’t leave Nutkin, so they brought her along. Nutkin lived outside, in an enclosure, but they considered her a pet nonetheless.

Everything was fine, until last December, when the Gosselins called the state Game Commission to investigate a friend of one of their neighbors who had been shooting arrows onto their property, Barbara explained. The Game Commission officer who responded instead asked them about the squirrel.

Barbara told him about how they brought the squirrel from South Carolina and it had been living with them for nine years and it was their squirrel.

The Game Commission officer listened and told her she couldn’t keep the squirrel, that it was illegal in Pennsylvania to possess a squirrel without a permit. Game Commission spokesman Jerry Feeser said state law requires people who keep wildlife as pets to get a permit. Had the Gosselins obtained a permit, he said, they wouldn’t have been cited.

Long story short, the Game Commission issued a citation to Jean, charging him with illegal possession of a squirrel. Later, though, they changed the citation so that it charged Barbara with possession of a squirrel. Barbara said, “How can they tell whose squirrel it is? You can’t do DNA tests or anything.”

At the same time, the Game Commission cited Barbara for possession of a groundhog, which is another story altogether. The groundhog was killed — euthanized at an animal hospital — and that charge was dropped. Barbara, though, was found guilty by a district justice of illegally possessing a squirrel.

She appealed the decision to Schuylkill County Court, where the case landed on the desk of Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin.

That was on Aug. 5.

The judge hasn’t rendered a decision yet.

And that’s how Nutkin became a player in the state Superior Court race.

The Gosselins, through their Web site, squirrelloversforfreedom.com, have asked people to write letters to the editor about Judge Dolbin, suggesting a form letter that can be signed and sent to newspapers throughout the state, hoping to influence the election and energize the pro-squirrel vote against Dolbin. The campaign is called “Operation Bring Nutkin Home.” Since Barbara was cited, Nutkin has been living in a secret, undisclosed location, “a safe house,” she calls it.

The letter refers to the numerous TV commercials aired by candidates for Superior Court and says, “Nearly everyone who sees (Dolbin’s) commercial probably thinks Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin looks like a fine, upstanding judge.

“But what they don’t know is, for the past three months, Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin has let a kind, caring retired couple who just want to enjoy their golden years wait for him to make a decision on whether or not they can keep their 9-year-old pet squirrel that they obtained legally in another state.”

The letter continues, “The nearly 10-year-old squirrel has been in hiding since December of 2002. The only question I have is, if Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin can’t make a decision on whether an aged little squirrel should be allowed to live out her final days with her lifelong caregivers, how is he going to rule on something real as a Superior Court judge?”

Dolbin’s secretary would only say, “Yes, we have a squirrel case.” She said neither she nor the judge could comment further since the case is pending.

Barbara said “Operation Bring Nutkin Home” is about freedom.

“I’m 66 years old and I’ve always believed in freedom and democracy,” Barbara said. “It shouldn’t be that hard to decide a case about a squirrel. It’s just a small case involving a squirrel, but it’s our squirrel.”