Advocates Society announces endorsements and recommendations for upcoming primary

The Advocates Society, the association of Polish-American attorneys, has issued four endorsements and several "recommendations" for the forthcoming primary.

Non-lawyers visiting FWIW for the first time may be confused.

As you scroll down the page, you'll see all sorts of posts about bar associations announcing their evaluations of candidates -- and, hopefully, you've understood that evaluations are not endorsements.

Even if they look a lot like endorsements -- Highly Recommended... Highly Qualified -- they are not.

Why aren't these endorsements?

The cynics in the room will say this is just another case of lawyers playing with words, splitting hairs, or picking nits.

But, really, the distinction is pretty easy to understand, if you think about it for a minute.

When a group endorses someone it chooses one candidate to the exclusion of all others. The endorsing group asks you, the voter, to vote for the endorsed candidate. With evaluations a group can say that everyone in a given race is just hunky-dory... or, maybe, that no one in a given race is. The group is not telling you who to vote for; it is merely giving you its opinions on the merits of each of the candidates. You the voter can take the group's opinions into account, or not, as you decide how to discharge your civic duty.

So... most of the bar associations, even most of the ethnic ones, at least those that belong to the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening, issue evaluations.

But the Advocates don't belong to the Alliance.

So the Advocates can, and do, issue endorsements.

In the forthcoming primary, the Advocates have endorsed Audrey Cosgrove for the O'Brien vacancy in the 10th Subcircuit, Jonathan Clark Green for the Fleming vacancy in the 8th Subcircuit, Kristen Lyons for the Jackson vacancy in the 7th Subcircuit, and Michael Strom for the Luckman vacancy in the 9th Subcircuit.

The Advocates have also made numerous "recommendations" for candidates seeking other vacancies. This list is taken from the Advocates website. It is largely in alphabetical order, although Araceli De La Cruz got pushed well down the list for reasons unknown to FWIW. I've taken the liberty of adding information about the races in which these candidates are running.

• Julie Aimen, who is running against Judge Strom for the Luckman vacancy in the 9th Subcircuit;
• Laura Ayala-Gonzalez, countywide Ford vacancy;
• Aileen Bhandari, countywide Coghlan vacancy;
• Hon. Lloyd Brooks, countywide O'Brien vacancy;
• Jennifer Callahan, countywide Mason vacancy;
• Hon. Cynthia Cobbs, Illinois Supreme Court candidate;
• James Crawley, countywide Roti vacancy;
• Hon. James T. Derico, Jr., countywide Coghlan vacancy;
• Jamie Guerra Dickler, 6th Subcircuit, Nega vacancy;
• Frank DiFranco, 12th Subcircuit, Hanlon vacancy (Republican candidate);
• Cristin McDonald Duffy, countywide Bellows vacancy;
• Hon. Patricia Fallon, 12th Subcircuit, Hanlon vacancy (Democratic candidate)
• Hon. Michael Forti, unopposed candidate for the Gubin vacancy in the 8th Subcircuit;
• Jacqueline Griffin, countywide Funderburk vacancy;
• Hon. Sheree D. Henry, countywide Murphy Gorman vacancy;
• Hon. Michael Hyman, Appellate Court candidate (Neville, Jr. vacancy);
• Heather Kent, countywide O'Brien vacancy;
• Hon. Kerrie Maloney Laytin, countywide Bellows vacancy;
• Hon. Celestia Mays, countywide Funderburk vacancy;
• Kelly McCarthy, countywide Coghlan vacancy;
• Suzanne McEneely, countywide Larsen vacancy;
• Hon. Teresa Molina, countywide McCarthy vacancy;
• Megan Mulay, countywide Larsen vacancy;
• Hon. John Mulroe, unopposed candidate for the Allen vacancy in the 10th Subcircuit;
• Eileen O'Connor, 6th Subcircuit, Pantle vacancy;
• Araceli De La Cruz, countywide Roti vacancy;
• Hon. Jesse Reyes, Illinois Supreme Court candidate;
• Beth Ryan, countywide Coghlan vacancy;
• Hon. Levander Smith, countywide Larsen vacancy;
• Christ Stacey, countywide Mason vacancy;
• Jon Stromsta, 10th Subcircuit, McGing vacancy;
• Hon. Daniel Tiernan, 14th Subcircuit, Lacy vacancy;
• Hon. Tyria B. Walton, 1st Subcircuit, Crawford vacancy; and
• Hon. Lynn Weaver Boyle, unopposed candidate for the countywide Patti vacancy.

As you will note, in several races, the Advocates are "recommending" multiple candidates. Because one can't "endorse" multiple candidates in a single race. So a recommendation is something short of an endorsement... but still a bullet point for a mailer or a door-piece.