The official list of the Cook County judicial primary winners... the majority does not always rule

Now that all the votes are counted, and the results certified, we know for certain who won each Cook County judicial race.

Just for fun, I've bolded the names of those successful candidates who achieved more than 50% of the votes in the Democratic primary.

Note that this list does not contain the names of the winners of primaries in the 12th and 13th Subcircuits. I'll explain why in a moment.

But first, the list:

Illinois Supreme Court

P. Scott Neville, Jr., Freeman vacancy

Illinois Appellate Court

Michael B. Hyman, Neville, Jr. vacancy
Sharon O. Johnson, Simon vacancy

Circuit Court - Countywide

Tiesha L. Smith, Bellows vacancy
Kelly Marie McCarthy, Coghlan vacancy
Laura Ayala-Gonzalez, Ford vacancy
Celestia L. Mays, Funderburk vacancy
Levander "Van" Smith, Jr., Larsen vacancy
Chris Stacey, Mason vacancy
Teresa Molina, McCarthy vacancy
Sheree Desiree Henry, Murphy Gorman vacancy
Elizabeth Anne Walsh, O'Brien vacancy
Lynn Weaver Boyle, Patti vacancy (uncontested)
Lorraine Mary Murphy, Roti vacancy
Maura McMahon Zeller, C. Sheehan vacancy
Jill Rose Quinn, K. Sheehan vacancy

Circuit Court - Subcircuits

Krista D. Butler, 1st Subcircuit Hughes vacancy (uncontested)
Tyria B. Walton, 1st Subcircuit Crawford vacancy (uncontested)

Sondra Nicole Denmark, 2nd Subcircuit "A" vacancy

Daniel Edward Maloney, 3rd Subcircuit Filan vacancy (uncontested)
Regina Ann Mescall, 3rd Subcircuit Flynn vacancy
Erin Haggerty Antonietti, 3rd Subcircuit Murphy vacancy

Jamie Guerra Dickler, 6th Subcircuit Nega vacancy
Eileen Marie O'Connor, 6th Subcircuit Pantle vacancy

Pamela Reaves-Harris, 7th Subcircuit Jackson vacancy

Jonathan Clark Green, 8th Subcircuit Fleming vacancy
Michael A. Forti, 8th Subcircuit Gubin vacancy (uncontested)

Thomas M. Cushing, 9th Subcircuit Axelrood vacancy
Julie Bess Aimen, 9th Subcircuit Luckman vacancy

John G. Mulroe, 10th Subcircuit Allen vacancy (uncontested)
Maire Aileen Dempsey, 10th Subcircuit McGing vacancy
Mary Catherine Marubio, 10th Subicruit O'Brien vacancy

Gerardo Tristan, Jr., 14th Subcircuit Bertucci vacancy
Perla Tirado, 14th Subcircuit Lacy vacancy

Nichole C. Patton, 15th Subcircuit Griffin vacancy

Every person listed above faces no opponent on the November ballot. They aren't elected yet -- but it would take something extraordinary to derail any of these candidates at this point.

There are two contested judicial races on the November ballot, one each in the nothernmost and northwestern corners of the county.

In the 12th Subcircuit, Judge Patrica M. Fallon (who won the Democratic Primary with 57.70% of the vote) will have to face Frank R. DiFranco, who was unopposed in the Republican Primary.

In the 13th Subciruit, Suzanne Michele Groebner won the Democratic Primary with 42.60% of the vote. Gary William Seyring won the Republican Primary with 72.65% of the vote and will face Groebner on the November ballot.

Interestingly, while there will be almost no contests for judicial vacancies on the November ballot, most of November's presumptive winners did not even command a majority of the votes in their own primaries.

In the most extreme example in this primary, one candidate won nomination, and almost certain election, with only 20.97% of the primary vote. Justice P. Scott Neville, Jr. will get a full 10-year term on the Illinois Supreme Court despite winning only 26.21% of the votes in the primary.

Only 19 of the Democratic Primary winners received more than 50% of the vote (18 on the original list, plus Judge Fallon) -- and six of those races were uncontested. If Illinois had adopted a nonpartisan primary for judicial races, a great many of these now successful and presumptively elected candidates would be facing very competitive, interesting races in November. (In a nonpartisan primary system, if no candidate achieves 50% of the primary vote, the top two finishers face off in the general election.)

Many voters will show up at the polls in November and be confused, or even angry, when they realize that they have no say in the election of judges in this county. And the majority of our judges will, once again, be elected without obtaining a majority of votes cast in any election. This does not inspire confidence in the democratic process generally, or in the judiciary in particular. With a nonpartisan primary process, however, voters who did not participate in the primary would still have a meaningful say in shaping the county judiciary.

This could be accomplished legislatively. But will there be any support for the idea?