The Illinois Appellate Court is divided into five districts. The First District of the Illinois Appellate Court is composed entirely of Cook County. Six justices will be elected to the First District in 2012. In five of these races, withdrawals yesterday have set the probable election match-ups.
Cahill Vacancy
This is the vacancy that just opened up because of the passing of Justice Robert Cahill and the only Cook County judicial vacancy in which filing is not yet closed (it opens next week). As reported here yesterday, Associate Judge
Mathias Delort is seeking this vacancy; he has also just launched his
campaign website. Delort has the backing of the Cook County Democratic Party. (Note: There are separate lists for Circuit Court and Appellate Court candidates on the side of this page; scroll down to find the list of Appellate Court candidates.)
Coleman Vacancy
Circuit Court Judge
Nathaniel Roosevelt Howse, Jr. was assigned to the Appellate Court by the Supreme Court in 2009. (At any given time, a quarter of the First District's Appellate Court's 24 justices are Circuit Court judges assigned in this manner.)
Justice Howse is now seeking his own 10 year term; he was slated for this vacancy by the Cook County Democratic Party. That's a link to Justice Howse's campaign web site in the preceding sentence.
Opposing Howse is Circuit Court Judge
Kathleen G. Kennedy. Judge Kennedy was first elected to the bench in 1996; she was retained in 2002 and 2008. Judge Kennedy currently serves in the Domestic Relations Division. This is her second bid for election to the Appellate Court; she also ran in 2010. A challenge was filed Monday to Judge Kennedy's petitions.
Gallagher Vacancy
The candidate slated by the Democratic Party for the Gallagher vacancy is Justice
P. Scott Neville, Jr.. (That's a link to Justice Howse's campaign website in the preceding sentence.) Like Howse, Neville was elected to the Circuit bench and subsequently assigned by the Illinois Supreme Court to serve on the Appellate Court. Justice Neville joined the Appellate Court in 2004; he'd been appointed to the Circuit Court in 1999, winning election in 2000.
Also seeking this vacancy is Associate Judge
Marguerite Anne Quinn. (That's a link to Judge Quinn's website in the preceding sentence.) Quinn became an Associate Judge in 2007. According to her campaign website, Judge Quinn is "[d]ually assigned to the Domestic Violence Division and the Second Municipal District" in Skokie.
The third candidate in this race is Judge
Patrick J. Sherlock. Judge Sherlock was appointed to the Circuit Court by the Illinois Supreme Court; he was thereafter elected in 2008. That's a link to Judge Sherlock's campaign website in the preceding sentence; a link has been added to the sidebar.
O'Brien Vacancy
Five candidates remain in the race for this vacancy, including Associate Judge
William Stewart Boyd. (That's a link to Boyd's campaign website in the preceding sentence.) Judge Boyd is currently assigned to the Domestic Relations Division; he became an Associate Judge in 1998.
Also filing for this vacancy was Judge
Ellen L. Flannigan. First elected to the bench from the 12th Subcircuit in 2006, Judge Flannigan sought elevation to the appellate bench in 2010. She is currently assigned to the Domestic Violence Division.
The only non-judge in this race is Clausen Miller partner
Don R. Sampen. An Illinois attorney since 1975, Sampen sought election to the Circuit Court (from the 12th Subcircuit) in 2006 and several times in the 1990s. He ran for the Appellate Court in 2010.
The other two candidates in this race are Circuit Court Judge
Jesse G. Reyes, who sits in the Mortgage Foreclosure/ Mechanics Lien Section of the Chancery Division, and Justice
Rodolfo (Rudy) Garcia, a Circuit Court judge assigned to the Appellate Court since 2003. (That's a link to Judge Reyes' campaign website in the preceding sentence.) Garcia was elected to the Circuit Court in 1996; Reyes became an Associate Judge in 1997, winning election as a full circuit judge in 2008.
Objections were filed Monday to the nominating petitions of Justice Garcia and Judge Boyd.
Theis Vacancy
Justice
Maureen Elizabeth Connors was
assigned to the Appellate Court by the Supreme Court in October 2010. She was slated for this office by the Democratic Party. She is unopposed. Since no Republican filed to oppose her (no Republicans filed for any Appellate Court or countywide Circuit Court vacancy), Justice Connors is virtually assured of election.
Tully Vacancy
Justice
Terrence J. Lavin was appointed to the Appellate Court in early 2010. A former president of the Illinois State Bar Association and a well-known and successful plaintiff's personal injury and medical malpractice attorney at the time of his appointment, Lavin was slated for this office by the Cook County Democratic Party.
Also filing for this vacancy was attorney
Eileen M. O'Connor. O'Connor is employed by the
O'Connor Law Group. She has been an Illinois attorney since 2006. This is her first bid for judicial office.
The third candidate in this race is Judge
William D. O'Neal. Judge O'Neal was first elected to the Circuit Court from the 2nd Subcircuit in 1992. He's run for the Appellate Court before, including bids in 2008 and 2010. Objections were filed Monday to Judge O'Neal's candidacy.
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Note: Campaign websites not included in this post will be added to the sidebar when they are discovered or when they are called to my attention.
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