IVI-IPO makes endorsements in some (but not all) Cook County judicial races

Updated and corrected 10/6/14

The Independent Voters of Illinois - Independent Precinct Organization has posted its endorsements for the November election. That's a link to the IVI-IPO's endorsement page in the preceding sentence.

The IVI-IPO made an endorsement in one of Cook County's two contested judicial races, choosing Judge James Kaplan over James Paul Pieczonka in the race for the Jordan vacancy in the far north suburban 12th Subcircuit.

The IVI-IPO has also singled out several Circuit Court judges seeking retention as worthy of a "yes" vote. The IVI-IPO has not announced that it opposes any judicial retention bid; it has merely endorsed some, but not all, of the Circuit Court judges seeking retention. The retention candidates singled out by the IVI-IPO are:

• Ann Collins Dole
• Anna H. Demacopoulos
• Clayton J. Crane
• Debra Walker
• Diana Kenworthy
• Donna Cooper
• Edmund Ponce de Leon
• Edward A. Arce
• Eileen Brewer
• Eileen O'Neill Burke
• Evelyn B. Clay
• Jackie Marie Portman
• James P. Flannery, Jr.
• James Rhodes
• Kathleen Kennedy
• Kathleen McGury
• Kenneth J. Wadas
• Kristyna C. Ryan
• Lewis Nixon
• Lynn M. Egan
• Marilyn F. Johnson
• Marjorie C. Laws
• Mary Anne Mason
• Mauricio Araujo
• Michael B. Hyman
• Raul Vega
• Rickey Jones
• Robert E. Gordon
• Sebastian Thomas Patti
• Thomas J. Lipscomb
• Ursula Walowski
• William Lacy

By my county, nine of the judges on the IVI-IPO's list of favorites are among the 16 rated "Well Qualified" for retention by the Chicago Council of Lawyers. These are Judges Clayton J. Crane, James P. Flannery Jr., Marilyn F. Johnson. Marjorie C. Laws, Sebastian Thomas Patti, and William Lacy and Appellate Court Justices Michael B. Hyman, Mary Anne Mason, and Robert E. Gordon. (Hyman, Mason and Gordon are all Circuit Court judges serving on the Appellate Court pursuant to Supreme Court assignment. They must stand for retention, however, as Circuit Court judges.)