49th Ward schedules endorsement session

Updated to clarify, December 3, 2009

According to its blog, the 49th Ward organization will hold an endorsement session December 12 -- but not for judicial candidates. The linked post states, "If you are running for a County-wide judicial vacancy or an Appellate Court vacancy we will continue to do our endorsements by a panel of our membership. You can send your resume, bar ratings which must include a favorable review from either the Chicago Bar Association or the Chicago Council of Lawyers, and any additional information you would like to submit. There will not be an endorsement session for Appelate or County-wide judicial candidates." For additional information, follow the link.

Before we're done with this primary -- as visitors will see in the round-up posts as we near the end -- all sorts of groups will be endorsing judicial candidates. Some groups seem to come into existence every two years solely for the purpose of making endorsements. Other, established groups make endorsements but don't seem eager to let the public in on who has been endorsed. In the last campaign, there were several candidates claiming the endorsement of one union or another. Some unions proudly announced their endorsements on their websites, but there were some unions whose endorsements I could not confirm (or include) in my round-ups. (The Chicago Federation of Labor endorsements are already available although this early endorsement list does not include the McCarthy vacancy.)

Other groups make endorsements -- but don't necessarily invite candidates to seek them. Groups should be free to endorse whom they will and how they will -- but if only one candidate is 'invited' to present his or her credentials and receive an endorsement, doesn't that reflect on the credibility of the endorsement? Of course, some groups may be contacting candidates directly, conducting an open process, but in private. There's nothing wrong with that.

If you, dear reader, knows of any group holding an endorsement session for Cook County judicial candidates, and if you'd like to get the word out about it, please leave a comment or send me an email.