Two First District Appellate Court Justices file for retention, as do 64 Cook County Circuit Court judges

Updated August 28, 2020 to correct omission and reflect current information.

First District Appellate Court Justices Aurelia Marie Pucinski and Mary Katherine Rochford have filed for retention this November, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Sixty four Cook County Circuit Court judges have also filed for retention. Those filing are

1. Margaret Ann Brennan,
2. Andrea M. Buford,
3. Thomas J. Byrne,
4. Diane Gordon Cannon,
5. Thomas J. Carroll,
6. Cynthia Y. Cobbs,
7. Mary Ellen Coghlan,
8. James Patrick Flannery, Jr.,
9. Michael B. Hyman,
10. Kerry M. Kennedy,
11. Daniel J. Kubasiak,
12. Maritza Martinez,
13. Bridget Anne Mitchell,
14. Caroline Kate Moreland,
15. Lewis Nixon,
16. Joan E. Powell,
17. William B. Raines,
18. Kristal Rivers,
19. Diana Rosario,
20. Kristyna Colleen Ryan,
21. Patricia O'Brien Sheahan,
22. Laura Marie Sullivan,
23. Shelley Lynn Sutker-Dermer,
24. Debra B. Walker,
25. Maureen Ward Kirby,
26. Michael P. Toomin,
27. Donna L. Cooper,
28. Steven G. Watkins,
29. Janet Adams Brosnahan,
30. Terrence J. McGuire,
31. Patrick J. Sherlock,
32. Kenneth J. Wadas,
33. John Michael Allegretti,
34. Peter A. Felice,
35. John J. Mahoney,
36. Pat Rogers,
37. Cassandra Lewis,
38. Jackie Marie Portman-Brown,
39. Dominique G. Ross,
40. Mauricio Araujo,
41. Raul Vega,
42. Robert D. Kuzas,
43. Patricia Manila Martin,
44. Judith Rice,
45. Ann Collins-Dole,
46. Robert E. Gordon,
47. Megan Elizabeth Goldish,
48. Anjana Hansen,
49. Abbey Fishman Romanek,
50. Diana L. Kenworthy,
51. Anthony C. "Tony" Kyriakopoulos,
52. Ursuala Walowski,
53. Gregory J. Wojkowski,
54. Dennis Michael McGuire,
55. Pamela McLean Meyerson,
56. Pamela Elizabeth Loza,
57. James Paul Pieczonka,
58. John Curry,
59. Edward A. Acre,
60. James Brown,
61. James N. O'Hara,
62. Patrick Kevin Coughlin,
63. Anna Helen Demacopoulos, and
64. Chris Lawler.

Appellate Court justices are elected to 10-year terms and must be retained in office to win additional 10-year terms.

Circuit Court judges have a six year term of office and must be retained every six years thereafter.

Four of the 64 Circuit Court judges seeking retention are presently serving on the Illinois Appellate Court. These are Mary Ellen Coghlan, Cynthia Y. Cobbs, Michael B. Hyman, and Robert E. Gordon. Hyman is also a candidate for the Neville, Jr. vacancy on the Appellate Court and faces no opposition in November. So he will remain at his post. Coghlan, Cobbs, and Gordon must be retained as Circuit Court judges in order to serve on any court.

On the retention ballot voters are asked to vote yes or no on the question of whether Judge Joan Smith shall be retained in office. A judge must receive a "yes" vote of 60% (+1) in order to be retained.

Judges listed above are not in ballot order.

Based on past experience, it is safe to predict that there will probably be at least a few judges who withdraw from the retention ballot prior to November.