Updated Cook County Judicial filings.... all the 8:00 a.m. filings now having been recorded

Judge Eileen O'Neill Burke is the only candidate so far for the Epstein vacancy on the Appellate Court. Justice Bertina E. Lampkin is the only candidate so far for Quinn vacancy. Burke and Lampkin were slated by the Cook County Democratic Party for these posts.

A couple of countywide Circuit Court candidates are also uncontested, at least for the time being: Judges John Fitzgerald Lyke, Jr. and Aleksandra "Alex" Gillespie are so far uncontested in their bids for the Biebel and Howlett vacancies, respectively. Assistant State's Attorney Maureen O'Donoghue Hannon is unopposed so far for the O'Brien vacancy. All three of these candidates are slated by the Cook County Democratic Party.

On the other hand, there are four candidates who filed for the countywide Elrod vacancy this morning, four candidates who filed for the countywide Karzenis vacancy, and four for the recently announced countywide Walsh vacancy.

Elrod vacancy. Judge Rossana Patricia Fernandez, the Democratic Party's slated candidate, has drawn three challengers, Thomas Francis McGuire, Joseph Chico, and Scott Edward Lipinski. The links in the preceding sentence are to my initial posts about these candidates. Joseph Chico was a City of Chicago hearing officer when he sought a 1st Subcircuit vacancy in the 2010 primary (that's a link to Chico's website in the preceding sentence; a link has been added to the blog Sidebar). ARDC says that Chico has been licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 1993. According to his campaign bio, Chico represents clients in "family law, probate, criminal, traffic and personal injury" matters while still serving as a Hearing Officer with the City of Chicago, Department of Human Resources, a Hearing Officer with the Chicago Housing Authority, and as an Administrative Law Judge with the City of Chicago, Department of Administrative Hearings. In this last position, Chico writes, he presides "over hearings regarding Chicago Municipal Code violations within the Department Divisions which includes Buildings, Municipal, Environmental, Consumer Services and Vehicles."

I haven't yet found a campaign website for Scott Edward Lipinski, but he is the son of former Circuit Court Judge Marcella C. Lipinski. His bid for his mother's vacancy (in the 15th Subcircuit) failed in December 2009, when he was knocked off the 2010 primary ballot. In 2012, Lipinski was a candidate in the 3rd Subcircuit.

Karzenis vacancy. Judge Devlin J. Schoop is the Democratic Party's slated candidate in this race. Brian J. O'Hara, who was introduced to FWIW readers in this morning's post also filed for this vacancy (and another in the 7th Subcircuit). The other two candidates in this race so far are Tom Courtney, who filed for the Illinois Supreme Court and an Illinois Appellate Court vacancy in 2012, but withdrew from both races, and Mary Kathleen McHugh. According to ARDC, McHugh has been licensed in Illinois since 1993 and is currently practicing with Parrillo Weiss LLC.

Walsh vacancy. Two recently appointed judges appear to be on a collision course in this race. Gerald V. Cleary was appointed to this vacancy earlier this month. Fredrick H. Bates, who was the Democratic Party's first alternate selection, was automatically slated when this vacancy was posted. Bates was subsequently appointed to the even-more-recent Johnson vacancy. Judges Cleary and Bates both filed for this vacancy this morning, as did Kevin Patrick Cunningham and Patrick Powers. The links in the preceding sentence are to prior FWIW posts.

As for Mr. Powers, ARDC advises that he has been licensed in Illinois since 1987. He heads up The Powers Firm, Ltd. That's a link to his firm website; I haven't yet found a campaign website. According to the firm website, Powers practices in "family law/domestic relations, which involves divorce and paternity matters, child custody issues, child support and pre-nuptial agreements" and also in real estate matters.

More to come later on candidates for other countywide judicial vacancies, as well as a look at how contests are shaping up in the subcircuits....