Twenty persons receive Democratic Party's endorsement for countywide judicial vacancies

Nine of the 20 persons referred to in the headline above were endorsed for current vacancies (I was aware of only eight, but the Cook County Democratic Party has access to more authoritative sources than I do).

That means 11 persons were asked to wait in line, just in case additional vacancies open up in time for the 2022 primary. These are the alternates -- slated automatically, in order, from first to eleventh, but only IF new vacancies crop up AND IF the designated alternate has not chosen to run against a slated candidate in the meantime.

There were no late-breaking vacancies in 2020, but there were three in 2018. While anything is technically possible, it is extremely unlikely that 11 more countywide vacancies are going to open up before the primary. So many -- probably most -- of the 11 alternates will wind up being endorsed... for nothing.

The Illinois Supreme Court has appointed persons to six of the existing eight (or nine) countywide vacancies.

Four of these six were slated by the Democratic Party yesterday: Judges Araceli De La Cruz, Tom Donnelly, Ruth Gudino, and Rena Van Tine. Judge Tracie Porter was passed over by the slatemakers for any existing vacancy... but she was designated as the Party's 1st Alternate. She is first in line if another vacancy opens.

The other judge currently sitting in a countywide vacancy pursuant to Supreme Court appointment, Sanjay Tailor, is not on the list at all... but is reportedly planning a run for a subcircuit vacancy in order to hold his place on the bench.

The Cook County Democratic Party does not endorse candidates for subcircuit vacancies. Subcircuit endorsements are made by the committeepersons whose wards or townships, or some parts thereof, are within the subcircuit.

The headline in the MSM about the judicial slating -- if there were one -- would be that 21st Ward Ald. Howard Brookins was chosen by the Party for a countywide vacancy. Perhaps of greater interest to FWIW readers is the fact that Tom Nowinski and Yolanda Sayre, the first and fifth of the alternates designated in 2020, have been actually slated and endorsed by the Cook County Democratic Party.

The 10th alternate designated in 2020, Ashonta Rice, has moved up to 4th alternate on the 2022 standby list.

Diana López, who just became an associate judge this year, also secured an endorsement for a countywide vacancy.

Here is the complete list of slated countywide candidates, in alphabetical order:

• Howard Brookins,
• Araceli De La Cruz,
• Thomas M. Donnelly,
• Ruth Gudino,
• Diana López,
• Tom Nowinski,
• Yolanda Sayre,
• Rena Van Tine, and
• Michael Weaver.

The 11 designated alternates are, in order:

1. Tracie Porter,
2. Marcia O'Brien Conway,
3. Jennifer Callahan,
4. Ashonta Rice,
5. Pam Saindon,
6. James Murphy Aguliu,
7. Steven McKenzie,
8. James Gleffe,
9. Debjani Desai,
10. Joanne Fehn, and
11. Tiffany Brooks.

For the sole Appellate Court vacancy, the Cook County Democratic Party slated Judge Dominique Ross. Judge John Ehrlich was designated as an alternate.

Appellate Court vacancies are rare, and late-opening Appellate Court vacancies rarer still. But I can recall one current Appellate Court justice who, after being designated by the Party as an alternate, was in position when a vacancy became available.

Clearly, with the alternate designation, the Party is hoping to encourage Ehrlich, who would be a well-funded candidate, not to challenge Ross. But it takes no gift of prophecy to predict that Judge Ross will face a number of challengers regardless of whether Ehrlich sits out or not: There are a great many Appellate Court hopefuls out there, announced or otherwise, and the opportunities for these persons are few.