Challenges to four judicial candidates overruled

At its meeting this morning the Cook County Officers Electoral Board overruled objections to four sets of Cook County judicial candidate nominating petitions, clearing the path to the ballot for four candidates.

Three of the cases were related. Reyes v. Griffin, 2022 COEB JUD 06; Magaña v. Somerville, 2022 COEB JUD 17; and Elliott v. Joyce, 2022 COEB JUD 21, respectively involved challenges to three members of a five-person alternate slate of countywide judicial candidates. The contention in each case was the same: Because another member of the five-person alternate slate jumped ship before the joint petition was filed, none of the challenged candidates qualified for the ballot.

(The slate-jumper, Elizabeth "Beth" Ryan, also circulated petitions for, and filed for, the countywide Ingram vacancy. No challenge was raised against her petitions in that race. Nor was any challenge made against the fifth member of the alternate slate, Claudia Silva-Hernandez. See, Will defection from alternate slate doom the hopes of some remaining candidates?.)

Candidates do not qualify for the ballot by filing nominating petitions alone. With their petitions, candidates are required to file a Statement of Candidacy and a receipt showing that the candidate has properly filed a Statement of Economic Interest. A candidate's failure to file these papers with the candidate's nominating petitions is fatal to the candidate's hopes of appearing on the ballot.

The Objectors to the petitions of Griffin, Somerville, and Joyce all noted that Ryan did not file her Statement of Candidacy or receipt for the filing of her Statement of Economic Interest with the papers filed on behalf of the alternate slate. Of course she didn't. She didn't file those papers with the slate's petitions (where she would have been a candidate for the McGury vacancy) because she filed instead for the Ingram vacancy. But the Objectors argued that Ryan's decision not to provide the papers that would let her stick with the alternate slate, which admittedly torpedoed her chances of appearing as a candidate for the McGury vacancy (which she didn't want anyway), doomed the others as well: Unless all comply with all requirements, none do.

In recommending rejection of the objections, the hearing officer (the same hearing officer was appointed for all three cases) relied on Libertarian Party of Ill. v. Scholz, 872 F.3d 518 (7th Cir. 2017). In accepting the hearing officer's recommendations today, the County Officers Electoral Board additionally cited Anderson v. Schneider, 67 Ill.2d 165 (1977), a case in which the Illinois Supreme Court reversed a decision of the Niles Township Electoral Board which would have prevented all members of a proposed slate of candidates for township offices because one candidate was ineligible (on residency grounds).

Pending a possible court challenge, today's action clears the way for Monica G. Somerville to be a candidate for the Canon vacancy, for Paul Joyce to be a candidate for the Lynch vacancy, and for Jacqueline Marie Griffin to be a candidate for the O'Brien vacancy.

In other action this morning, the Electoral Board overruled a challenge to the candidacy of Associate Judge Charles "Charlie" Beach for the Araujo vacancy in the 6th Subcircuit.

Many candidates reported difficulty in collecting signatures in this unique election cycle.

Apparently, Judge Beach was not one of these.

At this morning's hearing it was reported that Beach filed 186 pages of petitions. While challenges were made to the first 100 of these pages, none were made to the remaining 86. In accepting the hearing officer's recommendation in Beach's favor, the Electoral Board found as follows:

At the conclusion of the record examiuation, it was shown that the Candidate petitions contained 680 signatures greater than the required minimum. The Hearing Officer found that the objections filed in relation to a pattern of fraud would not be sufficient to remove the candidate from the ballot as at least 86 pages of the candidate's petition containiug 736 unchallenged signatures would remain, giving the candidate at least 69 signatures over the minimum required number of 667 for this office.

The Electoral Board's next scheduled meeting has been set for April 14.