According to the Illinois State Board of Elections, Associate Judge Marguerite Anne Quinn filed this afternoon for the Democratic nomination for the Kazmierski, Jr. in the 12th Judicial Subcircuit. The only other candidate to file in this race is Louis George Apostol. Quinn has been an associate judge since 2007; she sought an Appellate Court vacancy in 2012.
Meanwhile, the race for the countywide Walsh vacancy reconfigured today when Judge Gerald V. Cleary withdrew his candidacy. Cleary had been awarded the top ballot position in this race, but would have been bucking the Democratic Party in pressing his attempt to hold the seat to which he had been appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court. The remaining candidates in this race are the slated candidate, Judge Fredrick H. Bates (recently appointed by the Supreme Court to the Johnson vacancy, but "pre-slated" for this vacancy, when it occurred), Kevin Patrick Cunningham and Patrick Joseph Powers. Powers inherits the top ballot position abandoned by Judge Cleary.
1 day ago
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We chatted about this race, I was thinking of an entirely different person. Marguerite Quinn would be excellent.
So a person who was appointed to this vacancy (Cleary) decides to withdraw because of the party and we are supposed to believe no deals were made? I guess Cleary decided being a judge for a few months was all he wanted? C'mon, this stinks.
@Anon 12/16 11:47 p.m. -- I respond to your comment in a post this morning.
Must have been a heck of a deal if there was one. First ballot position, the only Irish name, no females...CBA rated him HQ four years ago and the Trib endorsed him...slated or not, he'd likely have been the favorite.
1. Judge Cleary's appointment runs until December 2016, so I don't know about this "being judge for a few months" stuff.
2. "Only Irish name?" You mean Kevin Patrick Cunningham isn't a sufficiently Irish name?
3. "First ballot position, ... no females...CBA rated him HQ four years ago and the Trib endorsed him ...slated or not, he'd likely have been the favorite." Countywide races are pretty darn costly, and if future slating seems likely he made the right call. The track record of 1st ballot position, CBA ratings & Trib endorsements do not provide cause for irrational exuberance.
Anon @12/19 11:49 a.m. -- I don't know about "this 'being a judge for few months' stuff" either -- I was making the point that I don't know the motivations; that's another possible motivation for an appointed judge/candidate pulling out of a race -- I was certainly not speculating about Judge Cleary's actual motivations.
1. Cunningham is Scottish...which certainly doesn't hurt in terms of votes, but yes I do mean it isn't Irish. 2. Money spent on countywide circuit court races has almost no electoral impact. The jurisdiction is too large and the contest too far down the ballot. 3. I said or implied nothing about "irrational exuberance," only that the combination of favorable conditions in the contest boded well for Cleary. In most election years the combination has been more than enough to overcome not being slated. (Most, not all.) But if a future slating was offered, definitely yes it has value and would explain the decision.
We learn so much from FWIW, including from those who comment. It never would have occurred to me that Cunningham was a Scottish name, especially hidden behind the Irish names Kevin & Patrick. As Albert said, the difference would not hurt Mr. C in terms of votes (pretty much all that Jack Leyhane's readers care about on that subject). A little internet research confirms the Scottish derivation of the Cunningham name. A wee bit more indicates that far more of the Cunninghams in the USA were living in Ireland when they got on the boat:
Cunningham Family Origin - from the New York Passengers List
The information for this chart came from the U.S. Immigration Collection at Ancestry. You can find out where the majority of the Cunningham families were living before they immigrated to the U.S and learn where to focus your search for foreign records.
• Ireland (3,453)
• England (1,096)
• Great Britain (639)
• Scotland (549)
• Ireland;Great Britain (26)
• Germany (19)
Anon 12/23 @12:19 a.m. -- Dr. Klumpp really does know about these things -- but I think he'd be the first to agree that (since our electorate -- including specifically the actual electorate that comes out to vote in judicial primaries -- is overwhelmingly not Irish) the appeal of the "Irish" surname is its familiarity not its inherent "Irishness." While Scottish, "Cunningham" is a far better "ballot name" than, say, "Leyhane," which is Irish as Paddy's pig, apparently, but not easy to pronounce and difficult to spell. In fact, I've been told, by people who should know, that my family name is misspelled -- which happened 100 years ago (or so) when it was changed for reasons unknown from the far more ballot-friendly "Lyons." Ah, well.
To return to the subject -- I doubt that Dr. Klumpp has any stats to offer on the vote-getting qualities of the surnames "Cleary" vs. "Cunningham." But if one were to run a survey, I'd bet that they'd test out about the same and maybe even slight advantage-Cunningham. Or was I scarred by "Happy Days?"
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