"Girl, I Guess" makes endorsements in Cook County judicial races

Updated May 30, 2021 with new and corrected information.

A Tweet announcing the "Judicial Update" to the "Girl I Guess" Progressive Voter Guide was published earlier this afternoon. The Tweet, from Stephanie Skora, the "Genderqueer, Trans woman, Femme Lesbian, Jewish Mom Virgo, organizer, speaker, #GirlIGuess writer" behind the guide, is linked in the first sentence of this post. Given my technical limitiations I can only provide an image of that Tweet here (you may need to click on the images in this post to enlarge or clarify them):

Longtime contributor Albert J. Klumpp first called FWIW readers' attention to the Girl I Guess guides in his wrap-up of the 2018 retention election. At the time, Dr. Klumpp wrote, "my analysis suggests that roughly 3 percent of retention voters used information from the guide or other sources that referenced it." In the aftermath of the 2020 retention election, Dr. Klumpp wrote, "The 'Girl I Guess' voter guide that emerged in 2018 remained influential this year, with an estimated 4.2 percent effect (versus estimated 3.4 percent in 2018, likely but not provably higher)."

So the Girl I Guess endorsements may well be influential in 2022 as well -- particularly in an election cycle where the Chicago Tribune has apparently decided not to offer endorsements to voters in judicial races.

Before listing the Girl I Guess judicial endorsements, let me first share screen grabs from the linked Google doc that pops up when one clicks on the Girliguess.com link embedded in the Tweet:

For the Appellate Court vacancies, Girl I Guess initially recommended Dominque C. Ross for the Hall vacancy (see screengrab above) -- but soon thereafter changed it to Debra Walker. Devlin Joseph Schoop remains recommended for the Harris vacancy. In countywide races, Girl I Guess recommends:

• Lisa Michell Taylor
  Brennan Vacancy,


• Tracie Porter
  Callahan Vacancy,


• Diana López
  Cannon Vacancy,


• Carmen Migdalia Quinones
  Hyman Vacancy,


• Elizabeth "Beth" Ryan
  Ingram Vacancy,


• Rena Marie Van Tine
  Leeming Vacancy,


• Michael Weaver
  Lynch Vacancy,


• Chelsey Renece Robinson
  McGury Vacancy,


• Dan Balanoff
  O'Brien Vacancy, and


• Thomas More Donnelly
  Sullivan Vacancy.

In Subcircuit races, Girl I Guess makes the following endorsements:

• John W. Wilson, 1st Subcircuit (Johnson Vacancy),


• "Both Awful", 4th Subcircuit (Gavin Vacancy),
• Jerry Barrido, 4th Subcircuit (Rogers Vacancy),


• Jenetia Marshall, 5th Subcircuit (Portman-Brown Vacancy),
• Judie Lyn Smith, 5th Subcircuit (Shelley Vacancy),


• Kerrie Maloney Laytin, 6th Subcircuit (Vega Vacancy),


• Owens "Joe" Shelby, 7th Subcircuit (Martin Vacancy),


• Bradley Trowbridge, 8th Subcircuit (Gordon Vacancy),
• Stephen Swedlow, 8th Subcircuit (Lipscomb Vacancy),


• Sanjay Tailor, 9th Subcircuit (Cleveland Vacancy),
• Torrick Alan Ward, 9th Subcircuit (Jacobius Vacancy),


• Chris Taliaferro, 11th Subcircuit (McGuire Vacancy),


• Joe Gump, 13th Subcircuit (Groebner Vacancy), and


• Viviana Martínez, 14th Subcircuit (Jagielski Vacancy).

In addition to the rather strong non-endorsement in the race for the Gavin Vacancy in the 4th Subcircuit, Girl I Guess bypasses the contested primary in the 15th Subcircuit. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Girl I Guess also offers no opinion in the contested Republican primary in the 13th Subcircuit. (FWIW readers will recall that two other subcircuit vacancies, one in the 6th and the other in the 14th, are uncontested.)

When I first put up this post, on May 26, I wrote that the Girl I Guess Guide did not offer specific explanations for its judicial selections, but does include a section describing the methodology used in arriving at its endorsements. To quote from the Guide:

This guide is written by using publicly available information from the candidates’ websites and in media outlets, as well as the candidates’ publicly available funding disclosures. I also consult with radical organizers that I trust. Candidates are judged based on the overall progressive nature of their platform, which varies for National and State races. Metrics that all candidates are being judged upon include:

• Support for a free Palestine and BDS
• Support for Medicare for All/Single Payer for Illinois
• Support for canceling Student Loan Debt
• Progressive policies on Housing Justice, especially Just Cause for Eviction
• Support for a Universal Basic Income, and/or a higher national minimum wage
• Endorsements from meaningful progressives, and (some) past Girl, I Guess endorsees
• Progressive positions on climate change
• Progressives positions on racial justice and defunding/abolishing police and prisons
• Support for decriminalizing sex work
• Support for trans people, intersex people, and the broader LGBTQ community
• Support for addressing gerrymandering, and voter suppression
• Stance on term limits
• Being pro-choice (AKA The Lipinski Rule)
• And more, depending on the individual races!

However, if I was correct when said that last Thursday, as of today, May 30, there are indeed explanations for each and every countywide judicial endorsement in the guide. Under the heading "The Dish," for each vacancy, Ms. Skora explains her rationale.

As of this May 30 update, there are no specific explanations provided for subcircuit endorsements. I looked. Carefully. If explanations are hereafter posted, I will advise.

With respect to the changed Appellate Court endorsement, Ms. Skora writes, in pertinent part:

This is a case where all the candidates are qualified, and nobody is without either an eyebrow-raising moment, or a complete snooze factor (honestly not the worst thing in a judge). I’m going to go with Dominique Ross, and trust the judgment (ha) of the progressives who are backing her.

UPDATE:

In perhaps my fastest reversal, I had about 10 folks tell me that Ross is absolutely horrible, never shows up to Court, and is ridiculously unqualified, despite what the Bar groups say. Can't argue with the response here, and I'm flip-flopping to my second choice, Debra B Walker.

To get to Ms. Skora's often-pungent candidate commentary, which relies heavily on input from the Injustice Watch 2022 Candidate Guide, a reader must scroll down the "Outline" of the Google doc. The countywide judicial races are profiled at the end of that outline.