Center for Illinois Politics names five in the running for newly drawn 2nd Judicial District seat on the Illinois Supreme Court

(I found out about this story from Rich Miller's CapitolFax. Credit where credit is due.)

The Center for Illinois Politics published this article, by Eric Krol, on July 18. An excerpt:

The [2nd District] seat is one of two spots up for grabs on a court where Democrats hold a 4-3 edge, and the campaigns will unfold after both sides shattered Illinois spending records on a judicial contest in fall 2020. Illinois Republicans and their business allies scored a big win when voters rejected retention for then-Justice Tom Kilbride of Rock Island in the 3rd District, who was backed by trial lawyers and labor unions. The district has been tweaked to make it more Democrat-friendly, but for Republicans, the 2022 contests may represent the party’s best shot at regaining a toehold in state government.

The two Supreme Court vacancies to be filled in 2022 are Kilbride's and the vacancy of former Justice Robert R. Thomas. Justice Michael Burke, like Thomas a former DuPage County judge and Second District Appellate Court Justice, was appointed to the Thomas vacancy last year but must run for and win a seat in 2022 to remain on the court. (Kilbride was replaced by Third District Appellate Court Justice Robert L. Carter -- and Carter has indicated he will not run for Kilbride's seat next year.) Burke was expected to seek election from the 2nd District -- but DuPage County was moved to the 3rd District by the Democratic Party's cartographers in this year's remap. So the new 2nd District seat would appear to be wide open.

While judicial elections outside Cook County are ordinarily beyond the scope of this site, I expect that many readers will have at least a passing interest in these two critical races.

Lake and Kane Counties are the biggest counties in the new 2nd District and all of the potential candidates identified in the Center for Illinois Politics article hail from one or the other. The candidates (so far) are:

• Lake County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Shanes (Republican);


• Lake County Associate Judge Elizabeth Rochford (Democrat) (the daughter of former Chicago Police Superintendent James Rochford);


• Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering (Democrat);


• Kane County Circuit Court Judge John Noverini (Democrat); and


• Kane County Circuit Court Judge Rene Cruz (Democrat).

Just as here in County Cook, no one is really a candidate until they actually file -- and that's a long way off yet. But there's much more detail and analysis in the Center for Illinois Politics article for those who crave more information even if it is really, really early in this modified election cycle.