Who's running for judge? Weekend update

Travel plans have been made; the hotel industry in Springfield will receive a real stimulus this weekend as judicial candidates make their way down from Cook County and elsewhere across the state for the privilege of shivering in line in the wee small hours outside the State Board of Elections, all thereby deemed 'first in line' when the doors finally open.

Only those 'first in line' qualify for the ballot lottery, the chance to snag that first position on the ballot.

There will be some stragglers as next week wears on and there will be a little boomlet just as filing closes on November 2, but most of the candidates will file Monday morning. By late Monday, then, we'll know for certain about the majority of the judicial hopefuls from Cook County... but, in the meantime, here's the latest information gathered from the Internet.

Assistant State's Attorney David J. Coleman is apparently planning a judicial bid. An attorney since 1993, a check of newspaper records indicates that Coleman was serving in the State's Attorney's 'cold case unit' as of 2005.

FWIW noted in this October 3 post that Assistant State's Attorney Tom Bilyk would be running in the 11th Judicial Subcircuit. He has a campaign website up and running now and I've added his link to the Sidebar.

Understandably, Bilyk's site stresses his current role as "Chief of the Juvenile Justice Division for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office where he oversees the work of over 40 attorneys, dealing with the issues of troubled and violent youth in all of Cook County." However, he also notes that, before receiving this assignment he "headed up the Mortgage Fraud Task Force made up of representatives from the Illinois Attorney General, the Illinois Secretary Of State, the Cook County Recorder of Deeds, the Cook County Assessor, the Chicago Police Department, and the City Of Chicago Corporation Council created to work together to propose and pass legislation to combat mortgage fraud and predatory lending practices."

William J. Luby, son of the late Judge Joseph K. Luby, has a campaign website up and running; the link has also been added to the Sidebar. An attorney since 1994, Luby has a law office in northwest suburban Mt. Prospect. There is also a "William Joseph Luby for Cook County Judge" up on Facebook.

I'm a little late noticing that Olympia Fields Mayor Linzey Jones has announced his candidacy for the 15th Subcircuit Lipinski vacancy. He also has a campaign website up and running; his link has also been added to the Sidebar. But I found the August 16 article in the Daily Southtown today in a Westlaw search.

An attorney since 1982, when he graduated from the University of Illinois Law School, Jones practices with the Loop firm of Pugh Jones Johnson & Quandt PC. The law firm site stresses Jones' long "experience in labor and employment law representing businesses and public agencies in developing and implementing strategies to address the wide variety of issues that arise in today’s workplace." His campaign site also notes that Jones has served as a "member of the Board of Managers of the Chicago Bar Association and the Board of Directors of the Cook County Bar Association."