8th Subcircuit candidate round-up

There are four judicial vacancies up for election this year in Cook County's 8th Subcircuit, a long, narrow, lakefront subcircuit that boasts large numbers of both highrises and lawyers.

Democratic Party Committeemen in the 8th Subcircuit slated candidates for only three of the four vacancies. Not surprisingly, the race for the Cole vacancy, in which no party endorsement was made, drew the largest number of candidates Monday.

Judge James L. Kaplan was appointed to the Cole vacancy by the Illinois Supreme Court late last year. He filed Monday to keep his seat; five candidates have lined up (so far) to try and take it away from him.

Associate Judge Helaine "Lainie" Berger declared her intent to seek the Cole vacancy this past July. Family law practitioner Brad Trowbridge also filed for this opening. Kaplan, Berger and Trowbridge all have campaign websites that are linked from the sidebar of this blog.

The other three candidates filing Monday for the Cole vacancy are Gideon Abraham Baum, Marianne G. Dwyer, and John H. Erlich.

Gideon Abraham Baum is an Assistant State's Attorney currently assigned, according to his campaign website, to the Child Protection Division. (Yes, that's a link to Baum's campaign site in the preceding sentence; a link has also been added to the sidebar.) Baum was a candidate for an 8th Subcircuit vacancy in 2008. He has been licensed in Illinois since 1992.

John H. Ehrlich is Deputy Corporation Counsel in the Torts Division of the City of Chicago Department of Law. An Illinois attorney since 1988, Ehrlich is making a second bid for the bench from the 8th Subcircuit. I could not find a current campaign website for Mr. Ehrlich, but his site from the 2004 bid is still active as of this morning.

Marianne G. Dwyer works in the law office of Albert Brooks Friedman, to whom she is also married. Dwyer has been an Illinois attorney since 2008.

Three candidates filed the Chiola vacancy. Two are sitting judges, Celia Louise Gamrath and James A. Shapiro.

The Illinois Supreme Court appointed Judge Celia Louise Gamrath to the Chiola vacancy in June 2010. She was also slated by the area committeemen for this vacancy.

Judge James A. Shapiro was appointed to an 8th Subcircuit seat in 2007, but was unable to hold that seat in the 2008 primary. The Illinois Supreme Court subsequently recalled him to judicial service.

A third candidate in this race is solo practitioner Rodney M. Stewart. An Illinois attorney since 1983, Stewart's listing in Sullivan's says he concentrates his practice in general civil law, personal injury, and juvenile matters. This appears to be Stewart's first bid for judicial office. I have been unable to find any campaign website for Mr. Stewart; the campaign websites of Judges Gamrath and Shapiro are linked in the sidebar.

Judge Deborah Jean Gubin was appointed to the Durkin Roy vacancy in early 2010. She was subsequently slated for this office by the Democratic Party. Her sole opponent, at this point anyway, is Sharon Finegan Patterson. Both Gubin and Patterson have campaign websites that are linked in the sidebar.

The only candidate at this point for the "A" vacancy is Judge Judge Laura Liu. Her campaign website is also linked in the sidebar.