2008 Cook County Appellate & Circuit Primary Races

The Cook County judicial election landscape is littered with primary races that function more like November general elections, due to the fact that the primary winner will not face Republican competition. Most of the judicial candidates nominated by the Cook County Democrat primary electors will simply have to wait until December to be sworn in for their six-year terms. As a preview, of sorts, of these February 5th races, the Illinois Civil Justice League encourages its readers to check out the full judicial profiles, and answers from judges of the ICJL questionnaire, available at http://www.illinoisjudges.net/.

The 2008 primary election, while highly compressed, features many candidates with detailed websites. In fact, more than half (16 of 31) of the Cook County candidates detailed below have campaign websites, certainly a record. Add to those sites the great work by Chicago legal blogger Jack Leyhane, whose For What It’s Worth Blog has been following the judicial races since August. Voters certainly have more resources to get educated about the candidates than ever before.

(Editor’s Note: Candidates for the Cook County subcircuit and downstate primary races will be featured in the next two weeks.)

Appellate Court
Two of these types of primary races will fill seats on the Cook County, or First District, Appellate Courts. Two groups of three Democrat candidates are seeking to fill the vacancies created by Justice Anne Burke, who was promoted to the Supreme Court, and Justice Calvin Campbell.

All three of the candidates for the Burke vacancy have judicial experience in Cook County. Alan Greiman, a veteran Cook County jurist and former state legislator, is currently an appointed Appellate Court justice. His opponents, Judges William O’Neal and Sharon Johnson Coleman are both sitting Cook County Circuit Judges. Justice Greiman has locked up nearly all of the endorsements and been rated “Highly Qualified” by the ISBA for this race, giving him an edge to retain his seat.

For the Campbell vacancy, two qualified veteran judges are seeking the other vacancy on the Appellate Court. Judges John Steele and Richard Walsh both have informative websites about their careers and accomplishments, giving Cook County voters an opportunity to be fully versed before entering the polls on February 5th. The third candidate, Frank Gardner, was found “Not Qualified” by the ISBA.

Cook County Circuit Court – Circuitwides
The Disko Vacancy provides a real race between two Cook County heavyweights. The judge appointed to the vacancy, Lauretta Higgins Wolfson, has won many of the endorsements, has been found “Qualified” by nearly all of the bar associations, and has many legal and political heavyweights on her campaign committee (such as retired Judge Gino DiVito, state legislator Julie Hamos, Congressman Bobby Rush, and Dawn Clark Netsch). However, Judge Dennis Burke has earned the highest rating of “Highly Qualified” from the bar association. Judge Burke’s website goes out of its way to tout the large jury verdicts and settlements found in his courtroom since his move to the Law Division. That being said, the Chicago Council of Lawyers has called “fair, hard-working, and even tempered” with “good legal ability.”

The Glowacki Vacancy pits an Associate Judge, Jesse Reyes, against a public defender, Terry MacCarthy. Judge Reyes is the past president of the Illinois Judges Association. MacCarthy touts his membership in AFSCME. Both have websites and Reyes even has a MySpace page (he’s a Scorpio, in case you were wondering).

The Healy Vacancy features former Bell, Boyd & Lloyd partner Maureen Ward Kirby, who was appointed to the vacancy, against Peter Curielli. Judge Kirby is rated as “Qualified” and her opponent is rated “Not Qualified” by ISBA.

The situation is almost identical in the race for the Keehan Vacancy, where Marilyn Johnson was appointed to the vacancy and has many endorsements. Her opponent, Joseph Robert Papavero of Community Investment Corporation, was found “Not Qualified” by the ISBA.

Both candidates in the Lott Vacancy race have earned “Qualified” ratings. Jody Rogers, an attorney with Ellison, Nielsen, Zehe & Antas, squares up with Thomas Byrne of the Cook County State’s Attorneys Office. Byrne has earned most of the endorsements in the race.

Clausen Miller attorney Debra Walker leads the list of candidates for the Montelione Vacancy. She is a past president of the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois. She will face Judge Thaddeus Wilson, who was appointed to the vacancy and is endorsed by the Cook County Democratic Party. He touts endorsements from Roland Burris, Alexi Giannoulias, and Emil Jones. A third candidate, Thomas Doran is an attorney for the City of Chicago.

Paula Lingo faces two Ryans in the Murphy Vacancy race. Lingo, who has collected all the major endorsements, is the Chief Legal Counsel for the Cook County Recorder of Deeds. Kristyna Ryan was found “Not Qualified” by the ISBA for the seat and Frank Ryan of Ryan & Ehrenstrom was not rated by the ISBA.

Judge Michael Hyman gained the “Highly Qualified” rating from the ISBA for the Nowicki Vacancy. Judge Hyman, who practiced with Much Shelist prior to his appointment to the vacancy, faces Jack Murphy, who specializes in representing school districts, Kim Kardas and Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Brian Sexton.

Judge Joan Powell was given the early nod by being appointed to the Thomas Vacancy and she has earned the endorsement of the Cook County Democrats. Her and her political strategist husband Phil Krone recently made headlines fundraising for Obama in Iowa. Patrick Riley, not the basketball coach but a former insurance defense litigator with O’Connor, Schiff & Myers, has also earned a “Qualified” rating from the ISBA, as has E. Madeline O’Neill, a hearing officer with the Child Protection Division of the Cook County Juvenile Court. David Mulvihill is an attorney with LaSalle Bank.

Visit IllinoisJudges.net.

-- Al Adomite
Illinois Civil Justice League
January 14, 2008