February 4 CLE offers guidance for those transferred from the Law Division to the Municipal Division

The Decalogue Society of Lawyers is offering a free, two-hour CLE program on February 4, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., in Courtroom 1501 of the Daley Center, entitled, "You’ve been transferred from Law Division to Courtroom 1501/First Municipal, Now What??"

Speaking at the program will be Judge Alon Stein; Judge Loveleen Ahuja; and Kimberly Atz O'Brien, Administrator of Cook County Mandatory Arbitration Program. The incoming Presiding Judge of the First Municipal Division, Tom Sianis, is expected to offer opening remarks. The flyer for the event is reproduced above.

To register for the program, click on this link.

January 21 fundraiser for Judge Ginger Odom

Supporters of Judge Ginger Odom's bid to hold the 1st Subcircuit seat (she currently serves pursuant to Supreme Court appointment) are planning a fundraiser for Wednesday, January 21, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., in the Chicago office of Clark Hill, 130 E. Randolph St., Suite 3900. The flyer for the event is reproduced above.

Tickets are $150 each, but sponsorships are available (Bronze - $250, Silver - $500, Gold - $1,000, or Platinum - $5,000). For more information, or to order tickets, visit the candidate's website (the fundraiser invite comes up as a popup).

Justice Theis to retire from the Illinois Supreme Court, Judge Sanjay Tailor appointed to fill vacancy

Herewith the Supreme Court's press release (I've added a few links):

llinois Supreme Court Justice Mary Jane Theis has announced her retirement from the Illinois Supreme Court effective January 29, 2026. Justice Theis has served on the Supreme Court since 2010 and retires as one of the most prolific judges in Illinois history, having served in all levels of the judiciary in 40-plus years on the bench. She served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 2022 to 2025. Justice Theis’ full statement on her retirement is available here.

“I am deeply grateful to have had the opportunity to serve,” Justice Theis said. “It has been my foremost goal to further the Court’s mission of providing access to equal justice, ensuring judicial integrity and upholding the rule of law.”

The Supreme Court has constitutional authority to fill interim judicial vacancies and has appointed First District Appellate Court Justice Sanjay T. Tailor to fill Justice Theis’ seat. Justice Tailor, whose term is effective January 30, 2026, through December 4, 2028, will be the first Asian American to serve on the Illinois Supreme Court.

“I am grateful to Justice Mary Jane Theis and the other justices of the Illinois Supreme Court for their confidence and trust in appointing me Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court,” Justice Tailor said. “I also look forward to continuing the work of the Illinois Supreme Court to ensure that our system of justice serves all people fairly and equitably.”

Justice Theis succeeded retired Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald in 2010, becoming the fourth woman to serve on the high court. The only child of Cook County Circuit Court Judge Kenneth R. Wendt and his wife, Eleanore, Justice Theis was born in Chicago. “When I was in high school,” she remembered, “I would go to his courtroom whenever I had an opportunity and watch the proceedings. It was a time when the law was changing very rapidly. He heard a lot of narcotics cases, and it was a time when issues about the Fourth Amendment were not only on the front pages of the newspapers, but also were important cases in the United States Supreme Court, and it seemed so compelling and exciting.”

Succeeding Justice Anne Burke as Chief Justice, Justice Theis became the fourth woman to serve as Chief on October 26, 2022, with the goal of “increasing public trust and confidence in the courts.” She added that people will accept court rulings if they believe they were impartially treated. “The perception of fairness is what holds together our communities, our court system, the rule of law, and our democracy.” As Chief, Justice Theis oversaw the establishment of the Illinois Courts Commission as an independent state agency to manage complaints against judges by the Judicial Inquiry Board. She also expanded “judicial education beyond the judges but to all the justice partners so that when people come into our courthouses, they will be met by a clerk of the court that has had the same kind of training.”

Justice Theis oversaw the creation of the Supreme Court Executive Committee on the Practice of Law (Executive Committee). The Executive Committee is charged with making recommendations on issues impacting the practice of law and unmet legal needs. It has proposed and passed numerous improvements, including three that took effect July 1, 2025.

“Justice Mary Jane Theis has had an extraordinary record of service to both the bench and bar. She has served with distinction at all levels of the judiciary including most recently as our Chief Justice. During her tenure as Chief, she was a national leader in addressing the unmet legal needs of those individuals who could not afford legal representation or who lived in areas of the state where legal representation was not available. As Chief, she appointed the first Supreme Court Executive Committee on the Practice of Law whose sole mission was to address the unmet legal needs of Illinois residents,” said Attorney J. Timothy Eaton, who serves as Chair of the Executive Committee. “It was through her leadership that the Executive Committee launched many programs to improve access to legal representation. She also was a student of the law, and her thoughtful and scholarly opinions will stand the test of time. She will be sorely missed.”

Justice Theis authored the opinion in Rowe v. Raoul, which declared the law eliminating cash bail in Illinois to be constitutional. Kankakee County State’s Attorney James Rowe filed a lawsuit against Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul challenging the constitutionality of the 2021 Illinois Safety, Accountability, Fairness, and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act that eliminated cash bail in the state of Illinois. After the Kankakee County Circuit Court declared the law unconstitutional, the Illinois Supreme Court in a 5-2 decision reversed the lower court’s judgment and affirmed the SAFE-T Act’s constitutionality. Justice Theis wrote that “our constitution creates a balance between the individual rights of defendants and the individual rights of crime victims. The Act’s pretrial release provisions set forth procedures commensurate with that balance.”

Justice Theis’ three-year term as Chief concluded in October 2025. As an appellate court justice, she served as a Presiding Justice. She was Committee Chair of both the Committee on Judicial Education and the Committee on Judicial Conduct of the Illinois Judicial Conference, and a member of the Supreme Court Rules Committee. Justice Theis was President of the Appellate Lawyers Association and the Illinois Judges Association, as well as President and founding member of the Illinois Judges Foundation. She has been a member of the Board of Governors of the Illinois State Bar Association and the Board of Managers of the Chicago Bar Association and is a member of the Women's Bar Association of Illinois.

After graduation from Loyola University in 1971, Justice Theis pursued a law degree from the University of San Francisco. She later said that an internship at the Marin County, California, public defender’s office helped shaped her career. Returning to Chicago, she served as an assistant Cook County public defender until 1983, when she began her judicial career as a Cook County associate judge and in 1988 won election as a circuit judge. In 1993, she was assigned to the First District Appellate Court and was elected to the position in 1994, serving for 17 years.

On October 26, 2010, the Supreme Court appointed Justice Theis to fill the Fitzgerald vacancy.

“I am humbled by the confidence the Illinois Supreme Court has placed in me,” she told the Illinois State Bar Association at the time. “The fact is I love being a judge very much. I love the intellectual part of it. But most importantly, I have an opportunity to shape the law that affects the lives of the People of Illinois.”

In February 2012, Justice Theis wrote the opinion in People v. Wrice, regarding the 1983 conviction of Stanley Wrice for the abduction, rape, and deviate sexual assault of a Chicago woman. Wrice’s attorneys claimed that after his arrest he had been severely beaten into a confession by two Chicago detectives, both of whom worked under Jon Burge, a police lieutenant who was promoted to commander before being suspended in 1991 and fired in 1993 for systematically torturing black suspects. At the trial, prosecutors introduced Wrice’s alleged confession, and, although no physical evidence linked him to the crime, he was convicted by a jury and spent the next 31 years in prison.

In 2010, following special-prosecutor investigations of beatings by Chicago police, the Illinois Appellate Court ordered a hearing on Wrice’s torture claim. Prosecutors appealed to the Supreme Court. Justice Theis wrote the unanimous opinion, which held that “use of a defendant’s physically coerced confession as substantive evidence of guilt is never harmless error. The defendant has satisfied the cause-and-prejudice test for successive postconviction petitions.” The ensuing hearing culminated in Wrice’s exoneration. At the time of his release from prison, the cases of 25 prisoners convicted in part from coerced confessions obtained by Burge and his subordinates were pending review by the Circuit Court, resulting from the Supreme Court decision.

In March 2012, Justice Theis prevailed in a four-candidate Democratic primary race. In the November election, she easily defeated Cook County circuit judge James G. Riley by about 50 percentage points, earning a full 10-year Supreme Court term. She remarked at the time that the seven justices share a healthy respect and ignore partisan divide. “There are those who like to pigeonhole people and say we’re elected as Democrats and Republicans and, therefore, we must think a certain way,” Justice Theis said. “But if you really look at our cases, that’s not what’s happening at all. I’m proud of that non-partisan sense in our court.”

In 2016, Justice Theis delivered the unanimous 5-0 ruling in Mary J. Jones et al. v. Municipal Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago, which struck down a 2014 state law intended to overhaul two of the city’s financially struggling pension systems. The legislation, supported by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, scaled back retirement benefits, required city workers and laborers to increase their retirement contributions in phases over five years, and lowered annual cost-of-living increases for retired workers. In court filings, attorneys for the City contended that the pension systems, not the city, had responsibility for paying out benefits to retirees, and that the municipal fund had just 37 percent of the amount needed to pay future retirement benefits, while the fund for laborers held slightly more than 50 percent of the needed money. “The Illinois Constitution mandates that members of the Funds have ‘a legally enforceable right to receive the benefits they have been promised’ – not merely to receive whatever happens to remain in the Funds,” Justice Theis wrote. “The General Assembly and the City have been on notice since the ratification of the 1970 Constitution that the benefits of membership must be paid in full.”

Justice Theis has taught at numerous judicial education programs, as well as conferences and seminars for the ISBA and CBA, and at Loyola University School of Law, Northwestern University School of Law, and the University of Illinois Chicago Law School. She has received various awards, including the Charles W. Daniels Judicial Leadership Award from the National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies (NAPSA) for the Court’s landmark work in supporting the expansion of pretrial services throughout Illinois. Justice Theis has also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Illinois Judges Association, Catholic Lawyer of the Year from the Catholic Lawyers Guild, Celtic Lawyer of the Year from the Celtic Lawyers Society of Chicago, the Mary Heftel Hooten Award from the WBAI, and the Access to Justice Award from the ISBA. Justice Theis is the recipient of the American Constitution Society Legal Legend - Honor from the Chicago Lawyer Chapter.

Justice Sanjay Tailor has been a judge for 23 years, sitting on the trial and appellate courts. His appointment today makes him the first Asian American to serve as a justice of the Illinois Supreme Court. He was first appointed to the bench as an Associate Judge in 2003 and won election as Circuit Judge in 2022. He served in five different divisions of the Circuit Court including as Presiding Judge of the County Division. He also served in the Chancery, Law, Domestic Relations and Municipal Divisions. For the last three years he has served by assignment as a First District Appellate Court justice, including as Presiding Justice of his division.

Before joining the bench, Justice Tailor served as an Assistant State’s Attorney in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. He also practiced law as a senior attorney at the First National Bank of Chicago, and associate at Chapman and Cutler LLP.

Justice Tailor is a board trustee of the Illinois Judicial College, the body entrusted with the continuing education and training of Illinois judges and their justice partners. He is a commissioner of the Illinois Supreme Court’s Commission on Access to Justice. He is also a board trustee of the Judges Retirement System of Illinois.

For two decades, Justice Tailor taught a course on Illinois civil procedure as an adjunct professor at Loyola University of Chicago School of Law. Justice Tailor earned his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Delaware and received his Juris Doctor with honors from the Loyola University of Chicago School of Law.

He is the President of the Asian American Judges Association of Illinois and a past president of the Lawyers Club of Chicago. His additional professional affiliations include the Illinois Judges Association, the Illinois Judicial Council, the South Asian Bar Association of Chicago, and the Asian American Bar Association of Chicago.

Advocates Society offers dinner and CLE at its January 27 meeting

Here's the flyer:

The Advocates Society will host a CLE program on current practice in the First Municipal District following its meeting on Tuesday, January 27 at the Copernicus Center, 5216 W. Lawrence Ave.

Dinner and cocktails will be served at 6:30, followed by a regular business meeting of the Advocates at 7:00. The CLE program begins at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $20 each for Advocates members, and $30 for non-members. There is a sponsorship opportunity as well: For $100, sponsors will get an event ticket and recognition at the event. Interested persons must register by January 26. To register, follow the instructions on this page of the Advocates website.

Belle Katubig campaign website launched, January 14 kickoff fundraiser planned

Supporters of Belle Katubig's 20th Subcircuit judicial bid have launched a campaign website in support of that effort. That's a link to the site in the preceding sentence; a link has been added to the Sidebar on this site as well.

Licensed in Illinois since 1997, according to ARDC, Katubig's campaign bio notes that her service as an Assistant Cook County State's Attorney currently involves representation of John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital and its doctors and nurses. The campaign bio also notes that Katubig has worked in the private sector as a "trial partner in a mid-size firm."

Katubig's campaign bio describes her as a first generation Filipino American, and the first lawyer in her family. She has been appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to the Committee on Professional Responsibility. Katubig is the mother of two sons who attend CPS schools, according to her campaign bio.

Katubig's supporters are also planning a fundraiser for Wednesday, January 14, from 5:00 to 7:30 at the Italian Village, 71 W. Monroe Street. Tickets are $100 each, but sponsorships are available as shown in the flyer above.

CWB reports on controversy involving recalled judge

I'd seen the Facebook post from the Cook County Bar Association protesting the recall of Judge James R. Brown. Most of you probably saw it, too, and read the letter linked from that post. There's an updated post on the CCBA's Facebook page this week.

The Chicago Council of Lawyers has also sent a letter to the Supreme Court asking it to terminate Judge Brown's recall appointment.

I'd meant to report on all this but, as we all know, the Road to Hell is paved with good intentions. It may be the only road hereabouts without any potholes at all.

Meanwhile, CWB Chicago actually did do a story about the bar groups' objections. That's a link to Tim Hecke's story in the preceding sentence. In the paragraphs above, you can find links to the letters from the CCBA and CCL.

The CWB Chicago story contains links to a September 5, 2025 guest column written by then-retired Judge Brown on johnkassnews.com, the Internet home of former Tribune columnist John Kass, and to a September 29, 2025 Chicago Way podcast in which Judge Brown (Ret.) was the one and only guest.

It is certainly true that judges surrender some of their First Amendment rights when they attain the bench. This is as it should be.

However, judges' First Amendment rights are restored when they hang up their robes.

What makes Judge Brown's situation unusual is that -- for the first time in a long time -- we have a former judge being returned to the bench -- and only temporarily, mind you -- and while said former judge was a former judge he exercised those First Amendment rights he'd reacquired. And, in the exercise of those restored rights, the former judge espoused at least some opinions that are clearly at odds with the prevailing political orthodoxy in this county.

One assumes that, if, while a private citizen, Judge Brown had written an essay expressing opinions more in keeping with the prevailing political orthodoxy in this county, the CCBA and CCL would not be demanding that he be removed from the bench. Of course, his essay would not then have appeared on the John Kass website.

I do not propose to dissect Judge Brown's opinions, or agree or disagree with any of them. If he were running for a spot on the bench, however, some (OK, nearly all) of these opinions would make it impossible for him to be slated by the Cook County Democratic Party as currently constituted. And that's fine. Because political parties can and should stake out political positions on political issues. That's what political parties are supposed to do.

But since when are the bar associations also committed to policing political orthodoxy? And isn't that what the bar groups are doing here?

Maybe, based on his essay, Anthony Fauci or George Soros should consider a change of venue motion should either of them find themselves in Traffic Court before recalled Judge Brown... but, in the very unlikely event that one of them were, neither would need any help from the CCBA or the CCL in making that determination. Meanwhile, why are bar associations merely mirroring the political views of the faction now controlling the local Democratic party?

For bar groups to have credibility in assessing the bona fides of judicial wannabees, they need to have different priorities than the Cook County Democratic Party. Their concern must be whether a litigant or attorney would get a fair hearing from the judge or judicial candidate. They do this, in the ordinary case, by interviewing the candidate's colleagues, or other attorneys who have appeared before the judge. They talk to people who the candidate has opposed in court, not just the references he or she provides. In evaluating sitting judges, the bar groups talk to lawyers who won before that judge and to lawyers that lost.

The case of Judge Brown is not ordinary, since recall appointments haven't happened here recently. But the current members of the bar groups have access to what their predecessors on their respective judicial evaluation committees thought of Judge Brown, and apparently they thought he was fair and impartial... even though he probably held some or all of the views he subsequently expressed, after returning to private life. If Judge Brown earned a reputation for fairness and impartiaility in nearly 20 years on the bench, that is what should be important to the bar groups. Even if -- gasp -- he is also friendly to John Kass.

CBA's 102nd Annual Bar Show, "Moo Court," on stage at the Fine Arts Building January 7, 9-10

The Chicago Bar Association's 102nd annual Bar Show, this year entitled "Moo Court," will be staged at the Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan Ave., on January 7, 9, and 10.

The link in the preceding paragraph will take you to the Fine Arts Building website, from which you can reserve tickets for any (or all) performances. Prices are significantly lower for the January 7 preview show. Either way, "Less Politics, More Cowbell" seems like a great slogan for our time.

I'm less sure about the conceit of holding court in a cow barn. I get the joke -- cows moo -- thus, "moo court." Dairy funny. I am udderly convulsed.

But I remember going to court in DuPage, when the then-new courthouse was shut down on account of 'sick building syndrome,' in a barn on the adjacent county fairgrounds. I believe it was considered more polite to refer to the temporary facility as the 4H barn, as opposed to a livestock barn; certainly, there were no cows actually present in court when I was there... but, at least for me, this bar show concept actually triggers a little nostalgia....

Electoral Board finished with judicial candidate challenges

A total of six petition challenges were filed against six different subcircuit candidates, Ashley Greer Shambley in the 1st Subcircuit, Rachel Marrello in the 3rd Subcircuit, Michelle Cunningham in the 5th Subcircuit, André Thapedi in the 17th Subcircuit, Lynn Terese Palac in the 18th Subcircuit, and Belle Katubig in the 20th Subcircuit.

Palac withdrew from her race on November 17 (leaving Juan Ponce de Leon as the only remaining candidate for the Chrones vacancy in the 18th Subcircuit). According to the Cook County Clerk's website (although not yet confirmed on the Illinois State Board of Elections website) Michelle Cunningham has now withdrawn from her race (leaving Stephanie S. Kelly as the one and only candidate for the Ross vacancy in the 5th Subcircuit).

The objections to Ashley Greer Shambley's candidacy for the Walker vacancy in the 1st Subcircuit and to Belle Katubig's candidacy for the Miller vacancy in the 20th Subcircuit were withdrawn. That leaves Shambley in a three-way race with Tiffany N. Brooks and Judge Ginger Odom. Katubig faces Jon Stromsta in her race.

Two petition challenges were overruled. The Electoral Board found that André Thapedi's petitions contained 1,149 signatures, 149 more than required. He will now face Amari Dawson and Bianca B. Brown in the race for the Carroll vacancy in the 17th Subcircuit. As reported here earlier this week, the Electoral Board previously overruled the objections to Rachel Marrello's petitions in the race for the Sherlock vacancy in the 3rd Subcircuit, leaving her in a one-on-one race with Martin Douglas Reggi.

Supreme Court recalls a number of judges to service in Cook County

Updated December 17, 2025 to reflect Corrected Orders entered today regarding the starting date for two of the recalled judges

In a series of orders entered yesterday, the Illinois Supreme Court recalled eight judges to service in Cook County, most of them starting December 15 and all of them ending on December 7, 2026, when the new class of elected judges will take office.

Two of the judges recalled and assigned to service in Cook County never served as a judge here. Judges Carla Alessio Policandriotes, formerly sat in the 12th Judicial Circuit (Will County), and Joseph Mac Leberman, served in the far Downstate 1st Circuit. (Since this article first appeared, the Supreme Court has entered a Corrected Order -- now linked -- indicating Judge Policandriotes will return to the bench on December 22.)

One of the orders entered yesterday was vacated today, due to "clerical error."

The other judges recalled yesterday (who are still being recalled as of today) are:

• Jeanne R. Cleveland,
• Sebastian T. Patti,
• Donald J. Suriano,
• Diane M. Shelley (corrected order), and
• James R. Brown

If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time in over a decade that any judges have been recalled to service in Cook County.

Section 12(c) of Article VI of the 1970 Illinois Constitution gives the Supreme Court the power to appoint judges to vacancies, but, in addition, Section 15(a) of Article VI gives the Court the authority to recall and assign "[a]ny retired Judge or Associate Judge, with his or her consent... to judicial service for which he or she shall receive the applicable compensation in lieu of retirement benefits."

This language explains why each of the recall orders linked here begins with an acknowledgement that the judge has consented to the recall: Judges, once retired, can't be drafted into additional service against their wills.

It is not just the retired judge who must consent to the return engagement: While it may not be spelled out in the Illinois Constituton, the Court would not ordinarily return a judge to service against the wishes of the chief judge in the circuit to which the retired judge would be assigned. (Weasel words are used here because I can't assert as an absolute fact that the Court has never placed a particular retired judge back in harness despite the objections of a chief judge. Usually, however, the Court only returns judges to service where the chief judge in a circuit persuades the Court of a need for additional help -- if it were otherwise, a recalled judge might show up for work and find that he or she has nothing to do. If the chief judge is seeking help, it would stand to reason that the chief might also have some input into who might provide that help.)

While anyone browsing the archives of Supreme Court orders will find recall orders entered from time to time outside Cook County, the last time that I know of anyone being recalled here was in 2013 (I know I can rely on FWIW readers to correct me if I am in error here) (also, if anyone goes back to the linked 2013 article, the links therein are broken -- but that is not my fault -- the Court has changed websites in the intervening years).

One petition challenge already resolved

An objection to the candidacy of 3rd Subcircuit candidate Rachel Marrello has been overruled by the Cook County Officers Electoral Board. This means that Marrello will appear on the March primary ballot. Her opponent in that race is Martin Douglas Reggi.

Two other candidate challenges may be resolved when the Board meets tomorrow, December 10.

Raines withdraws, Cunningham challenged

The late-opening Ross vacancy in the 5th Subcircuit drew three candidates, but one of them, former Cook County Circuit Court Judge William B. Raines, withdrew his candidacy as of December 3.

One of the two remaining candidates, Michelle Cunningham, faces a challenge to her nominating petitions. The first hearing on that challenge will be tomorrow before the Cook County Officers Electoral Board.

The other candidate for this vacancy is Stephanie S. Kelly.

New Chief Judge appoints new deputies, keeps some existing presiding judges, appoints some new ones

Charles S. Beach II, the new Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, made this announcement last Friday:

Chief Judge Charles S. Beach II has announced a restructuring of the Circuit Court of Cook County with the creation of three deputy chief positions. The new deputy chiefs of criminal operations, civil operations, and first appearance court operations will provide guidance on important court matters and serve as a resource to judges across the Circuit. The restructuring is part of a broader effort to strengthen court operations, support the judiciary and reinforce public trust in the Court.

The Hon. Erica L. Reddick will serve as the Deputy Chief of Criminal Operations. The Hon. Michael B. Barrett will serve as Deputy Chief of Civil Operations. The Hon. Mary C. Marubio will serve as Deputy Chief of First Appearance Court Operations.

“Each of these judges shares my commitment to strengthening access to justice for all,” said Chief Judge Beach. “I look forward to working with them to enhance efficiency and fairness across Cook County.”

Included in Friday’s orders, Chief Judge Beach appointed four new presiding judges: Hon. Michael T. Mullen for the Chancery Division; Hon. Tom S. Sianis for the First Municipal District; Hon. Mary C. Marubio for the Second Municipal District; and Hon. Susana L. Ortiz for the Pretrial Division.

The following presiding judges were reappointed to their positions:

• Hon. Maureen Ward Kirby for the County Division;
• Hon. Thomas V. Lyons II for the Law Division;
• Hon. Daniel B. Malone for the Probate Division;
• Hon. Regina A. Scannicchio for the Domestic Relations Division;
• Hon. Judith Rice for the Domestic Violence Division;
• Hon. Donna L. Cooper for the Juvenile Justice Division;
• Hon. Andrea Buford for the Child Protection Division;
• Hon. Erica L. Reddick for the Criminal Division;
• Hon. Jill C. Marisie for the Third Municipal District;
• Hon. Geary W. Kull for the Fourth Municipal District;
• Hon. Kerry M. Kennedy for the Fifth Municipal District; and
• Hon. Tommy Brewer for the Sixth Municipal District.

Chief Judge Beach also signed an order appointing three deputy presiding judges: Hon. Anjana Hansen for the Second Municipal District; Hon. Kent A. Delgado for the Probate Division; and Hon. Kathryn M. Vahey for the Juvenile Justice Division.

Consistent with the structure used in the suburban municipal districts, the Traffic Division will merge into the First Municipal District. The following judges will serve as supervising judges for the First Municipal District: Hon. Sondra Denmark for Trials; Hon. Daniel Gallagher for Branch Courts; and Hon. Diann K. Marsalek for Traffic. The Hon. Ankur Srivastava will serve as Supervising Judge for the Pretrial Division. The Hon. Neil H. Cohen will serve as Supervising Judge for the Chancery Division. The Hon. Abbey Fishman Romanek will serve as Supervising Judge for the Domestic Relations Division. All other currently appointed supervising judges will remain in their roles.

This restructuring also includes the creation of the New Judge Orientation and Training Section to assist new judges as they take the bench. In addition to her role as supervising judge, Hon. Diann K. Marsalek will chair the new section. The Hon. Adrienne E. Davis will serve as vice chair.

The three deputy chief appointments are effective immediately. All other judicial appointments are effective January 5, 2026.

All orders will be available on the Circuit Court website.

CBA JEC looking for new recruits

The Judicial Evaluation Committee of the Chicago Bar Association is seeking volunteers. The following is a message from CBA JEC Chair Jeff Finke; CBA JEC Recruitment, Member Development & Retention Chair Michelle Carey; and the CBA's JEC Administrator, Phyllis Lubinski:

Interested in Strengthening Our Judiciary? The Chicago Bar Association’s Judicial Evaluation Committee Needs Investigators.

The Judicial Evaluation Committee (JEC) of the Chicago Bar Association plays a vital role in maintaining a fair, competent, and ethical judiciary. Our investigators interview judges and judicial candidates, review professional histories, and help prepare evaluations that voters and judges rely on when making informed decisions.

Right now, we’re looking for new investigators to join this important public service.

Who can serve?

• You must be a CBA member
• You must be a licensed attorney in Illinois with at least two years of legal experience

If you’re a retired attorney looking for a meaningful way to give back, serving on the JEC is an incredible opportunity to use your expertise for the public good.

If you’re an associate attorney hoping to expand your network, sharpen your skills, and get more deeply involved in the Chicago legal community, the JEC offers unmatched professional development and exposure.

This is not just volunteer work, it’s an extraordinary chance to improve our courts, support transparency, and ensure that our judicial system reflects the highest standards of professionalism.

If you’re interested in joining or learning more, reach out to the CBA’s JEC Administrator, Phyllis Lubinski, Plubinski@chicagobar.org. Your experience can make a real difference.

* * * * * * * * * * *

FWIW here, with a few comments:

The CBA's memo mentions networking opportunities for younger lawyers. That may be an understatement. JEC service may give the ambitious young lawyer very specific and meaningful networking opportunities: If you read candidate biographies here, both current and former, you will note that a great many of the successful candidates have served on one or more judicial evaluation committees before running for the bench themselves. One important caveat: You can't serve on a JEC and run for judge. That's an automatic not recommended rating right there. So... you plan. You serve an election cycle or two and then run, taking care to resign first.

What if you're not a CBA member? Well, you could join. (Sadly, I failed to negotiate a commission arrangement before publishing this....) But, also, are you a member of any other bar associations? There are 13 bar associations who collaborate in the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening; each has its own JEC that you might join. (In the coming days, you may see 'pitches' from one or more of these, soliciting volunteers just as the CBA is doing here.) There are also suburban bar groups who are not affiliated with the Alliance who provide judicial evaluations; you might consider service on one of their JECs as an alternative to (or in addition to) service on the CBA JEC.

No evaluation system is perfect. But the quality and reliability of evaluations necessarily (and understanably) improves when more attorneys participate. If you are cynical type, perhaps this will resonate with you: Don't cede the field to those who may have an axe to grind, or partisan blinders, or extreme views on specific topics. Such persons will participate (and have participated) on evaluation committees regardless of whether you particpate. The candidates they approve without you will perhaps screw up your cases some day. Is that what you want? No? Then consider JEC service as a practical practice protection plan.

Three candidates file for late-opening 5th Subcircuit vacancy

Three candidates, one a former judge, have filed for the Ross vacancy in the 5th Subcircuit, the only Cook County vacancy to come within the 'special judicial filing period' in this election cycle.

The candidates are Michelle Cunningham, Stephanie S. Kelly, and former Judge William B. Raines. I haven't found websites for any of the candidates so far, but presumably these will follow in due course.

Cunningham has been licensed in Illinois since 2013, according to ARDC. According to her LinkedIn profile, Cunningham recently became an adminstrative law judge with the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board. Before that, Cunningham served as a Cook County Assistant State's Attorney from 2013 until she joined the PTAB this past July.

Kelly has been licensed in Illinois since 2001, according to ARDC. According to her LinkedIn profile, Kelly has been working as Interim Senior Labor & Employment Counsel for Major, Lindsay & Africa since late 2023. According to her LinkedIn profile, she previously worked in various positions at Chicago State University, ultimately becoming Vice President, General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer, before leaving in late 2020.

Raines was appointed to the Circuit Court in 2014 after winning the Democratic primary for a countywide vacancy. He was the Democratic Party's slated candidate in that race. In 2022, Raines was required to receive sensitivity training and gender bias counseling after allegedly 'mocking and ridiculing' two attorneys "who had appeared before him on a livestreamed court proceeding after the proceeding was over and the two attorneys had left." The quotation is from an Order subsequently issued by the Illinois Courts Commission on December 2, 2022, granting the Judicial Inquiry Board's motion to dismiss its Complaint against Judge Raines. The Courts Commission agreed with the JIB that it lost jurisdiction over the case when Judge Raines resigned from the bench, as of November 6, 2022. However, the action was dismissed "without prejudice," meaning that if the Courts Commission reacquires jurisdiction over Raines -- if, for example, he wins election to the vacancy for which he has now filed -- the matter might be reinstated. See, In re William B. Raines, 22 CC 2.

It is unusual, though not unprecedented, for a judge to resign the bench and later seek election back to the bench. At this point, I have no idea whether the JIB would seek to revive its Complaint against Raines should he be returned to the bench by the voters in the 5th Subcircuit. If there are any further facts that I run across in this regard, I will report them.

No objections have yet been filed to the nominating petitions of any of these candidates. On the other hand, the last day for the filing of objections is tomorrow, December 3.

Beethoven and more at December 13 Chicago Bar Association Orchestra & Chorus concert

Schroeder would probably not understand why the Chicago Bar Association Orchestra & Chorus thinks it necessary to include works by anyone other than Beethoven on its forthcoming December 13 program at St. James Cathedral, 65 E. Huron Street. Who would need or want Mendelssohn, Mozart, or Schubert in a program so close to Beethoven's Birthday?

And, yet, this variety is promised in the flyer for the concert, which begins at 7:30 p.m. (click to enlarge or clarify):

Advance tickets are available at this Eventbrite link. Tickets are $20 apiece for adults, $15 each for persons 18 or under or law students. There are fees associated with online purchases, but tickets purchased online are still cheaper than tickets sold at the door. Limited tickets will also be available at the door ($25 for adults, $20 for students) roughly a half hour before the program begins.

Also, for any of you who might not remember, Beethoven's Birthday is December 16. Probably. But it's not entirely certain. On the other hand, December 16 is the date that Schroeder and Charles Schulz always observed.

Most people, with the possible exception of Schroeder, might even consider tickets for this concert to be a good gift for Beethoven's Birthday.

December 10 fundraiser for Jon Stromsta

Supporters of Jon Stromsta's 20th Subcircuit judicial campaign are planning a fundraiser for Wednesday, December 10, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., at Gideon Welles, 4500 N. Lincoln Ave.

As the above flyer indicates, tickets are $250 each, but sponsorships (Sponsor - $1000, Host - $1500) are available. To purchase tickets, click here; for any questions, or more information about the event, email friendsforjonstromsta@gmail.com.

Campaign Website for Dave Condron goes live

A campaign website has been launched in support of Dave Condron's 19th Subcircuit candidacy. That's a link to the website in the preceding sentence; a link has also been added to the candidate list in the Sidebar on this site.

Condron is a candidate for the 19th Subcircuit vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Michael J. Kane. In this election cycle, that is the most crowded judicial race: The other candidates filing there are Monica Somerville, Jessica Megan Scheller, and John Harkins.

According to ARDC, Condron has been licensed to practice law in Illinois since 2001. According to his campaign bio, he currently serves as a supervisor in the City of Chicago's Department of Law, representing the City in civil rights cases. Condron began his legal career as an Assistant Cook County State's Attorney, working in that office from 2001 to 2017. He moved into the private sector after that, handling construction cases for O'Rourke, Hogan, Fowler & Dwyer for about five years. He became an Assistant Corporation Counsel in 2023.

Condron's campaign bio notes that he was born in Christ the King Parish, in Chicago's Beverly neighborhood, and that he lives there still, where he and his wife are raising their four children. He is a graduate of Marist High School, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Another Cook County Judicial race becomes uncontested

Lynn Terese Palac has withdrawn her candidacy for the Chrones vacancy in the 18th Subcircuit. That leaves Juan Ponce de Leon as the only remaining candidate seeking this seat in the Democratic Primary. No Republican filed for this vacancy (or for any other in Cook County), virtually assuring Ponce de Leon of victory in the November 2026 general election.

As previously reported here, a challenge had been filed to Palac's nominating petitions prior to her withdrawal.

ILJA Holiday Party set for December 10

All the information you need is in the flyer below... especially if you know how to work the QR code thingy.

Which I don't. At least, I don't think I know how to do it correctly.

I can get Google Lens to 'read' the QR code by pointing a properly set-up phone at it... but what does one do if one is reading this post on their phone? That's what my stats tell me most FWIW readers do. I often have two phones available, so I could do it that way... but I don't know that most readers do that... and that method seems needlessly complicated. And I don't do Zelle at all. Call me old fashioned, but I much prefer negotiating my way through a negotiable instrument....

Objections filed to five judcial candidates' nominating petitions

When there aren't that many candidates, it would stand to reason that there would be fewer challenges as well.

Such is the case in this election cycle. Only five challenges have been filed against five different subcircuit candidates, Ashley Greer Shambley in the 1st Subcircuit, Rachel Marrello in the 3rd Subcircuit, André Thapedi in the 17th Subcircuit, Lynn Terese Palac in the 18th Subcircuit, and Belle Katubig in the 20th Subcircuit.

These challenges are scheduled for initial presentation before the Cook County Officers Electoral Board on November 17.

Some of the challenges can already be viewed via this page on the Cook County Clerk's website (click on the case number). All will likely be posted prior to Monday's hearing.

Challenges are not always successful, but they are often part of the election process. A certain former POTUS began his electoral career after a successful challenge to his primary opponent's nominating petitions. In the case of the challenges to judicial nominating petitions in this election cycle, three would, if successful, result in uncontested races. The other two, however, would, if successful, leave a one-on-one race.

Congratulations to the presumptive winners... but....

I mentioned earlier today that Steven Q. McKenzie, Ava George Stewart, and Judge D'Anthony "Tony" Thedford are running unopposed in the Democratic Primary for their respective countywide vacancies and that Judge Judith C. Rice is running unopposed in the Democratic Primary for the Hoffman vacancy on the Illinois Appellate Court. I mentioned, too, that -- no Republicans having filed in any of these races (indeed, no Republicans having filed in any Cook County judicial race) -- these individuals are almost certain to be elected a year from now, on the first Tuesday of November 2026.

My congratulations to each of these candidates and also to each of the following subcircuit candidates, who also remain unopposed after the filing period closed yesterday:

• John Carroll - 3rd Subcircuit - Murphy vacancy (appointed to this vacancy earlier this year by the Illinois Supreme Court);


• Kim Przekota - 11th Subcircuit - Roberts vacancy (appointed to this vacancy earlier this year by the Illinois Supreme Court);


• Robert "Bob" Groebner - 13th Subcircuit - Curry, Jr. vacancy;
• Brittany Michelle Pedersen - 13th Subcircuit - Martin C. Kelley vacancy;
• William F. Kelley - 13th Subcircuit - Thomas J. Kelley vacancy;
• Dan Naranjo - 13th Subcircuit - O'Malley vacancy (appointed to this vacancy earlier this year by the Illinois Supreme Court);


• Julian Sanchez Crozier - 16th Subcircuit - Converted from the Associate Judgeship of Callie L. Baird;
• Jessica Karina Velez - 16th Subcircuit - Converted from the Vacancy of the Hon. Patricia Mendoza;


• Sam Bae - 18th Subcircuit - Converted from the Vacancy of the Hon. Frank J. Andreou;


• Sara McGann - 19th Subcircuit - Converted from the Vacancy of the Hon. John A. Fairman (appointed to this vacancy in July by the Illinois Supreme Court); and


• Michael J. Zink - 20th Subcircuit - Converted from the Vacancy of the Hon. David E. Haracz (appointed to this vacancy last year by the Illinois Supreme Court).

That's 11 uncontested subcircuit vacancies so far, out of a total of 23. (It was 22, but we have to add in the new Ross vacancy in the 5th Subcircuit.)

Anyway -- before objections are filed to anyone's nominating petitions -- before any electoral board proceedings that may further diminish the field of candidates -- already three of the five countywide vacancies and nearly half of the subcircuit vacancies are uncontested. That's great for the candidates in question... and I do mean that... but is this news equally great for the voters? What does this say about how lawyers view judicial service? Or about the costs and sacrifices necessary to attain the bench? What does this say about the health of our political process generally? I don't pretend to have anwers to these questions, but I have significant concerns.

Only one Cook County judicial vacancy in the special judicial filing period

I offer the foregoing headline with just the teensiest wiggle room. The ISBE website shows only one Cook County judicial vacancy occurring during the special judicial filing period as of Friday, October 31. Technically, the last day on which a vacancy could occur and fall within the special judicial filing period was yesterday, Monday, November 3.

The special judicial filing period applies to judicial vacancies occurring during the three week period preceding the close of the regular filing period (which, again, was yesterday).

Only one such was reported. The 5th Subcircuit vacancy of Judge Dominique C. Ross was certified as of October 31.

Persons interested in filing for her vacancy may do so between November 17 and November 24.

It's a very tight window in which to collect signatures and do all the other things necessary to qualify for the ballot -- but this is the opportunity that now exists.

Judge Ross was elected to a 5th Subcircuit vacancy in 2008. She was the Democratic Party's slated candidate for a vacancy on the Appellate Court in 2022, but lost in a three-way race.

Only 46 candidates file for 27 Cook County Circuit Court vacancies

Seven hopefuls filed for five countywide Cook County Judicial vacancies when the doors opened on October 27 at the Illinois State Board of Elections in Springfield. When the doors closed there yesterday, that being the last day for candidate filing (except for the special judicial filing period -- we'll get to that in due course), no more candidates had come forward.

No Republicans filed for any vacancy. The winners of the March Democratic primary will be presumptively elected in November 2026. Steven Q. McKenzie, Ava George Stewart, and Judge D'Anthony "Tony" Thedford are running unopposed in the primary.

There are only two countywide judicial contests. In the race for the Cobbs vacancy, Judge Linda Sackey will face the Democratic Party's slated candidate, Luz Maria Toledo. In the race for Coghlan vacancy, Judge Michael Cabonargi, the Democratic Party's slated candidate, is opposed by Ashonta C. Rice. (A note of caution about Judge Cabonargi's website: As of this morning, it appeared to be corrupted; presumably, this will be fixed soon.)

The only other countywide judicial race is for the Appellate Court. Judge Judith C. Rice is the only candidate to file in the Democratic primary. No Republican filed for this vacancy either.

In fact --- and I believe this is a first --- it is certainly the first time it has happened in my experience, and it may be the first time it's happened since the Republican Party was founded in 1854 --- not a single candidate has filed in the Republican primary in any Cook County judicial race.

Two party system? Really?

Seven candidates filed for subcircuit vacancies after October 27; we've previously noted that Lynn Terese Palac filed in the 18th Subcircuit. We also mentioned that Natalie Howse was planning to file in the 1st Subcircuit.

Howse did file, as expected, yesterday morning. Five other candidates were in line when the doors were closing yesterday afternoon. Garson Fischer and Elizabeth Christina Dibler both filed to run for the Gamrath vacancy. Those are links to the new candidates' respective websites in the preceding sentence; these sites will be added to the Sidebar here on FWIW shortly. (Kathleen Cunniff Ori had filed for this vacancy on October 27.)

Katherine Carole Morrison filed for the Mikva vacancy in the 8th Subcircuit at close of business yesterday. That's a link to her campaign website in the preceding sentence; it will be added to the Sidebar on the web version of this site shortly. There were already two candidates in this race, Judge Lester Finkle and Dan Balanoff.

Former State Rep. André Thapedi has filed for the 17th Subcircuit vacancy created by the retirement of Associate Judge James R. Carroll (which I will call the Carroll vacancy going forward, as the Illinois State Board of Elections is doing on its website). Licensed to practice law in Illinois since 1996, Thapedi is the son of former Circuit Judge Llwellyn L. Greene-Thapedi. She passed away in 2014; Thapedi ran (for her vacancy) in 2006. He was also a candidate for a 5th Subcircuit vacancy in the 2008 election cycle, but did not make it to the ballot. He served in the Illinois House from 2009-2021. There are two other candidates for the Carroll vacancy, Bianca B. Brown and Amari Dawson.

In the 20th Subcircuit race for the seat converted from the vacancy of the Hon. Stephanie K. Miller (the Miller vacancy), Belle Katubig filed as the doors closed. Katubig is an Assistant State's Attorney in Cook County; according to ARDC, she has been licensed to practice law in Illinois since 1997. Katubig has previously applied for a Cook County associate judgeship, but this is her first try at getting elected to the bench. The other candidate in this race is Jon Stromsta.

List of 2026 Cook County Circuit Court Candidates and website links

As promised, I've put up a 2026 Candidate List in the Sidebar on the web version of this site. Given that many FWIW readers access this site via mobile devices (what we old-timers quaintly refer to as 'phones'), some of you will not be particularly familiar with the Sidebar. So be it. For those of you in that category, I have also put a Candidate List below, with links to candidate websites I have so far found.

You will note that the list that follows is not quite complete; there are some 'dead links.' This may be because the candidate has not yet put up a website; it is also possible that, despite my best efforts, I missed some. If I have missed a site, or when the website of the candidate of your choice goes live, drop me an email at jackleyhane@yahoo.com and I will endeavor to promptly update the Sidebar list. Meanwhile, feel free to browse among the sites found so far:

• Sam Bae
• Dan Balanoff
• Tiffany N. Brooks
• Bianca B. Brown
• Michael Cabonargi
• John Carroll
• John R. Carrozza
• Dave Condron
• Julian Sanchez Crozier
• Amari Dawson
• Lester Finkle
• Robert “Rob” Groebner
• Meridth Hammer
• John Harkins
• Natalie Howse
• William F. Kelley
• Jarrett Knox
• Rachel Marrello
• Sara McGann
• Steven Q. McKenzie
• Natalia Moore
• Dan Naranjo
• Ginger Odom
• Kathleen Cunniff Ori
• Brittany Michelle Pedersen
• Lynn Terese Palac
• Juan Ponce de Leon
• Kim Przekota
• Martin Douglas Reggi
• Ashonta C. Rice
• Linda Sackey
• Jessica Megan Scheller
• Ashley Greer Shambley
• Monica Somerville
• Ava George Stewart
• Jon Stromsta
• D’Anthony “Tony” Thedford
• Luz Maria Toledo
• Jessica Karina Velez
• Radiance Ward
• Michael Zink

Some likely Cook County judicial candidates have yet to file

Case in point: Natalie Howse has not filed... but clearly plans to. That's a link to her campaign website in the preceding sentence; a link will be added to the candidate list in the Sidebar of the web version of this site as soon as that list can be set up. There is also a Facebook campaign page. This is at the top of that page this evening:

Only one new Cook County judicial candidate filing since Monday

Let's get the straight news part of the story out of the way, right up front: There are now 33 candidates for the 22 subcircuit vacancies. Arlington Heights attorney Lynn Terese Palac filed yesterday afternoon to run for the 18th Subcircuit vacancy converted from the retirement of the Hon. Jeffrey G. Chrones. That's a link to the new candidate's website in the preceding sentence.

Palac's filing sets up a possible contest with Assistant Public Defender Juan Ponce de Leon. That's a link to his website in the preceding sentence. Both links will be added to the candidate list in the Sidebar of the web version of this site as soon as that list can be set up.

Ponce de Leon has not previously sought election to the bench; Palac was a candidate for an 18th Subcircuit vacancy in 2024.

That's the straight news.

Now, some readers may remember that Palac ran as a Republican in 2024; she has filed as a candidate for the 2026 Democratic primary, as is her right. This revelation may cause some of you to clutch at your pearls and reach for the smelling salts: A former Republican candidate in the Demorcratic Primary? Egads!

This is where we leave the realm of straight news and move into the land of personal opinion, namely, mine.

I don't know Ms. Palac (or Mr. Ponce de Leon for that matter). So I offer the following opinion strictly as an outside observer. To wit: A person interested in being elected to the Cook County bench had better run as a Democrat.

No Republicans have filed for any Cook County judicial vacancy at this point. There may be some few eventually, but it is doubtful. Why bother? With very, very few exceptions (e.g., my own State Rep. Bradley A. Stephens) no one can really hope to be elected anywhere, to anything, in Cook County except as a Democrat. This is nothing new.

Therefore (repeating): If you want to become a judge in Cook County, you must run as a Democrat. Maybe there was room for doubt in some subcircuits during the 2024 election cycle (inasmuch as it was the first electoral test of a brand new subcircuit map), but Ms. Palac's 2024 candidacy provides tangible, empircal proof that the mapmakers knew their business.

If you find yourself offended at the prospect of one-time Republican candidates 'invading' the Democratic judicial primary, may I ask you take a big, deep cleansing breath and (if you believe in better living through chemistry) perhaps a chill pill as well?

A judicial aspirant should be the least partisan person among your acquaintance. While there is no reason why a judge would not have opinions, perhaps even pungent opinions, on any and all of the issues of the day, there is equally no reason why you, unless you are the judge's spouse, or a close member of the judge's family, or one of the judge's oldest and closest friends, should have any clue as to what those opinions might be: Judges are supposed to be professional neutrals, not political zealots.

The mayor and alderpersons of the City of Chicago are elected on an ostensibly nonpartisan basis -- but we elect judges in Illinois in partisan political primaries. We are living in an insane, upside down world.

You may think, based upon what you read and hear in the media and online, that many judges around the country are mere partisan hacks -- but, for you lawyers out there, is that what you want in the judges before whom you appear? ... Is that what you've seen? ... Is that what you want?

Assuming that you don't want that, why should you object to someone who wants to serve in the judiciary doing something that practical reality requires?

We can talk about the benefits of a viable two-party system some other time. Lawyers are trained and conditioned to deal with the world as it is. We don't have a two-party system in Cook County at present. We have a one-party system. Deal with it. -----------------------------------------------------
P.S. -- If there are any persons seeking judicial office in Cook County through the Republican primary, FWIW will cover them. Promise. But I'm not holding my breath waiting for any to show up.

Campaign website launched for recently appointed Judge Sara McGann

The Illinois Supreme Court appointed Assistant State's Attorney Sara McGann to a 19th Subcircuit vacancy created by the conversion of the vacancy created when Associate Judge John A. Fairman was elected to a seat on the Circuit Court's 15th Subcircuit.

Judge McGann filed her nominating petitions for the vacancy in which she now serves on Monday, and her supporters have launched a campaign website in support of that venture. That's a link to the website in the preceding sentence; a link will be added to the candidate list in the Sidebar of the web version of this site as soon as that list can be set up.

Licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 2009, according to ARDC, McGann spent her pre-judicial career as an Assistant Cook County State's Attorney. Her campaign biography notes both extensive trial and appellate experience. She also has experience "in specialized court programs, including diversion and treatment courts," according to her campaign bio.

The current treasurer of the Southwest Bar Association, McGann is also a member of the Appellate Lawyers Association, the Chicago Bar Association (including past service on the CBA Judicial Evaluation Committee), and the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois. She has also been a "mentor" for the Diversity Scholarship Foundation, according to her campaign bio.

A graduate of Mother McAuley High School, McGann has also served on the St. John Fischer school board. This is her first time seeking election to the bench. No candidate has yet filed to oppose her in this race.

Radiance Ward campaign website found

A campaign website has been established for 1st Subcircuit candidate Radiance Ward. That's a link to the website in the preceding sentence; a link will be added to the candidate list in the Sidebar of the web version of this site as soon as that list can be set up.

Licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 2008, according to ARDC, Ward works as a Cook County Assistant Public Defender. According to her campaign biography, Ward is currently assigned to the Homicide Task Force Division of that office. She has been with the Public Defender's Office for more than half of her career. Before that, her experience includes stints with LifeSpan and the Office of the Chief Judge, representing clients in domestic releations, housing, and foreclosure matters, according to her campaign bio.

Ward has also taught as an Adjunct Professor in Trial Advocacy at her alma mater, Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She also serves on the coaching staff of the award-winning Philip H. Corboy Fellowship Program in Trial Advocacy. Ward volunteers with LegalTrek, The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree Program, and The Glass Slipper Project. According to her campaign bio, she has also been a volunteer mentor with the Association of Vanderbilt Black Alumni (AVBA), an Executive-At-Large for her union local - AFSCME, Local 3315, and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.

Ward holds a Bachelor of Arts from Vanderbilt University. She attended Chicago Public Schools, including McDade Classical School, Ogden Elementary School, and Kenwood Academy.

Ward has not previously been a candidate for election to the bench. She is currently the only candidate to file for the Balanoff vacancy in the 1st Subcircuit.

Thirty two candidates file for 22 subcircuit vacancies

There are currently vacancies in 10 of Cook County's 20 judicial subcircuits. The 13th Subcircuit has the most vacancies (four), while the 1st, 3rd, 8th, 11th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th all have two each.

Yesterday, on the first day nominating petitions were accepted for the 2026 primaries, 32 candidates filed for these 22 vacancies. (The last day for candidate filing for these vacancies is November 3.)

Several of the vacancies are so far uncontested; we will come to these.

But four candidates filed for the 19th Subcircuit vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Michael J. Kane. The candidates filing there are Monica Somerville, Dave Condron, Jessica Megan Scheller, and John Harkins. Somerville was a candidate for a countywide vacancy in 2022; the other three appear to be making their first bids for election to the bench.

Three candidates filed for the Walker vacancy in the 1st Subcircuit. These are Judge Ginger Odom, who was appointed to this vacancy by the Illinois Supreme Court earlier this year; Tiffany N. Brooks, who ran for a 5th Subcircuit vacancy (under the old map) in 2022; and Ashley Greer Shambley, who has not previously sought election to the bench.

So far, there are other contested races in the 3rd Subcircuit (Sherlock vacancy), where Martin Douglas Reggi and Rachel Marrello have both filed; in the 8th Subcircuit (Mikva vacancy), where Dan Balanoff has filed to run against Judge Lester Finkle, who holds this seat pursuant to Supreme Court appointment; and in the 11th Subcircuit (Meyerson vacancy), where Jarrett Knox and John R. Carrozza have both filed.

Both of the races in the 17th Subcircuit drew two candidates on the first day of filing. In the race for the vacancy created by the election of Associate Judge Lloyd J. Brooks to a full Circuit seat, Meridith Hammer and Natalia Moore have both filed. Bianca B. Brown and Amari Dawson have both filed for the other 17th Subcircuit vacancy, created by the retirement of Associate Judge James R. Carroll.

Subcircuit candidates who are so far unopposed are:

• Radiance Ward - 1st Subcircuit - Balanoff vacancy;


• John Carroll - 3rd Subcircuit - Murphy vacancy (appointed to this vacancy earlier this year by the Illinois Supreme Court);


• Kathleen Cunniff Ori - 8th Subcircuit - Gamrath vacancy;


• Kim Przekota - 11th Subcircuit - Roberts vacancy (appointed to this vacancy earlier this year by the Illinois Supreme Court);


• Robert "Bob" Groebner - 13th Subcircuit - Curry, Jr. vacancy;
• Brittany Michelle Pedersen - 13th Subcircuit - Martin C. Kelley vacancy;
• William F. Kelley - 13th Subcircuit - Thomas J. Kelley vacancy;
• Dan Naranjo - 13th Subcircuit - O'Malley vacancy (appointed to this vacancy earlier this year by the Illinois Supreme Court);


• Julian Sanchez Crozier - 16th Subcircuit - Converted from the Associate Judgeship of Callie L. Baird;
• Jessica Karina Velez - 16th Subcircuit - Converted from the Vacancy of the Hon. Patricia Mendoza;


• Sam Bae - 18th Subcircuit - Converted from the Vacancy of the Hon. Frank J. Andreou;
• Juan Ponce de Leon - 18th Subcircuit - Converted from the Vacancy of the Hon. Jeffrey G. Chrones;


• Sara McGann - 19th Subcircuit - Converted from the Vacancy of the Hon. John A. Fairman (appointed to this vacancy in July by the Illinois Supreme Court);


• Michael J. Zink - 20th Subcircuit - Converted from the Vacancy of the Hon. David E. Haracz (appointed to this vacancy last year by the Illinois Supreme Court); and
• Jon Stromsta - 20th Subcircuit - Converted from the Vacancy of the Hon. Stephanie K. Miller.

Candidate profiles and websites to come in due course.

Seven candidates file for five countywide vacancies on the first day of filing

Seven Cook County judicial hopefuls, including three judges serving pursuant to Supreme Court appointment, filed nominating petitions yesterday morning when the doors opened at the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Yesterday was the first day for candidate filing for the 2026 primaries; the last day to file is November 3.

Two of the sitting judges, Michael Cabonargi and D'Anthony "Tony" Thedford, were slated by the Cook County Democratic Primary to run for the vacancies to which they were appointed (the Coghlan and Karkula vacancies, respectively). The third sitting judge, Linda Sackey (Hooks vacancy), was passed over at slating time. Judge Sackey has instead filed for the Cobbs vacancy, running against the slated candidate, Luz Maria Toledo.

The Cobbs vacancy is one of two countywide races to draw a contest so far. The other is for the Coghlan vacancy, where Ashonta C. Rice has filed against Judge Carbonagi.

FWIW readers will remember that Rice was knocked off the 2024 ballot because her nomination papers were deemed to run afoul of an Election Code provision that was supposed to keep candidates from trying to fool the public by changing their electoral ethnicity, but has actually been applied more frequently to keep women off the ballot where their marital status has changed. See, Rice v. Cook County Officers Electoral Board, 2024 IL App (1st) 240230-U (updated link). (For more on this case, see prior FWIW coverage.)

(There's a certain symmetry in Rice's 2026 campaign: The time it took to resolve the challenge to her 2024 candidacy -- early voting was underway by the time the Appellate Court ruled -- was one of the reasons why the election calendar has been moved up this year. In prior election cycles, candidate filing usually began somewhere around Thanksgiving.)

Slated candidate Ava George Stewart is the only person to file for the Hooks vacancy at this point. Steven Q. McKenzie (the link is to a Facebook campaign page), the 1st alternate slated by the Cook County Democratic Party, is the only candidate for the Kathleen M. Burke vacancy. Judge Burke retired August 31, after the slatemakers met.

Meanwhile, in the race for the Hoffman vacancy on the Appellate Court, the Democratic Party's slated candidate, Judge Judith C. Rice, was the only candidate to file yesterday.

Subcircuit filings will be discussed in subsequent posts.

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Yes, after a more than three month boycott, I guess I'm back for one last campaign. Politics seems uglier than ever to me; perhaps it seems that way to you as well. On the other hand, informed voting is our civic duty. So here we are....

Cook County Democratic Party announces 2026 judicial slate

And it's a short one. (Hat tip for Frank Calabrese for being the first to provide it to me, because, this year, I could not attend the slating session in person.)

There are only four countywide vacancies at this point in the election cycle. That's the smallest number of vacancies since 1994, according to 46th Ward Committeeperson Sean Tenner.

Two of the four slated judicial candidates are already serving as judges pursuant to Supreme Court appointment. These are Michael Cabonargi (Coghlan vacancy) and D’Anthony (Tony) Thedford (Karkula vacancy). A third appointee, Linda Sackey (Hooks vacancy), was not slated. The Party endorsed Ava George Stewart and Luz Maria Toledo for the final two known vacancies.

Ava George Stewart was the highest remaining alternate from the 2024 slating. (OK, actually, she started out as the 6th alternate, but she moved up to the second position when Yolanda Sayre chose to run in the 5th Subcircuit.) Stewart has been licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 2003, according to ARDC. According to a profile published on the website of the Womens Bar Association of Illinois, Stewart worked in private practice for over 16 years before becoming Chief of the Misdemeanor/ Traffic Division of the Lake County State's Attorney's Office. According to ARDC, Stewart is now back in private practice in Chicago.

Luz Maria Toledo is a Cook County Assistant State's Attorney, according to ARDC, and has been licensed to practice law in Illinois since 2006. She has not previously sought election to the bench.

The Party also named nine alternates for Circuit Court vacancies that may (or may not) open up between now and November 3, when the special judicial filing period ends. The nine alternates are, in order:

1. Steve McKenzie,
2. Mischelle Luckett,
3. Nisha Dotson,
4. Kevin Ochalla,
5. David Badillo,
6. Gregory Mitchell,
7. Mark Javier,
8. Mark Lawrence, and
9. Anna Sedelmaier.

How many vacancies will open up in the weeks to come? In some years there have been none at all. In 2024, one Circuit Court vacancy opened up. There may be more this time around.

Committeeperson Tenner noted that the election calendar has been pushed up a month this year (to allow more time, on the other end, for the resolution of petition challenges). Some judges who may be contemplating retirement would not necessarily have advanced their plans by that same month, Tenner speculated. There may also be some who are waiting to see how the forthcoming Chief Judge election turns out before finalizing their own plans, he added. Moreover, he said, the continued use of Zoom hearings may make staying on the job more attractive than it might be otherwise.

Frank Calabrese noted that the Party has encouraged legislation creating more subcircuit vacancies; the Party wants candidates to run in those races, he suggested. Given these priorities, judges holding countywide seats may not be facing as much pressure from politicians to step aside, at least compared to other election years.

I heard of at least one more recently elected judge who has vowed never to retire because the Tier II pension system does not make early retirement attractive. Who knows? If this attitude is widespread, turnover will certainly be reduced. But I agree there may be more value than usual in being a slated alternate for 2026.

Until the unexpected passing of Justice Thomas E. Hoffman, there were no vacancies on the Appellate Court. But the Democratic Party slatemakers promptly slated Judge Judith Rice for Hoffman's vacancy. Rice had been the top remaining Appellate Court alternate from the 2024 election cycle. (Justice LeRoy K. Martin, Jr. is about to assume the Hoffman vacancy pursuant to reassignment by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court's action came before the slating meeting, but only by a couple of days.)

Party slatemakers also named three Appellate Court alternates. These are, in order, Sanjay Tailor, Sandra Ramos, and William Sullivan. Tailor's selction comes with an asterisk: it is conditional on his appointment to a vacancy on the Appellate Court.

In fact, Tailor is already serving on the Appellate Court; the Supreme Court assigned him to duty on that court in 2022. It may be that, after Justice Martin, Justice Tailor would be the next person to be moved into an up-or-out slot, should an additional vacancy occur, but that is speculation on my part. It would, however, explain the conditional language from the slatemakers.