Trying to ascertain who has been slated in the subcircuits

While the Cook County Democratic Party's countywide judicial slating is typically announced with some fanfare, it has always been more difficult to determine who has been slated in the various subcircuits.

In recent election cycles, some subcircuits have had open slating sessions; FWIW has even been welcomed at some of these, or at least not turned away at the door. Many subcircuits, however, have kept their process as secret as the formula for Coca-Cola or the recipe for the Colonel's herbs and spices. The identities of the chosen ones remain unknown until Election Day palm cards are distributed.

In this compressed and time-shifted season leading up to the Mel Brooks Birthday Primary on June 28, subcircuit slating appears more mysterious than ever. This is not to deny the possibility that some subcircuits may again have had open processes; however, if this happened, the slating announcements came and went before FWIW could take notice.

And so we asked for help from Albert J. Klumpp, a generous and frequent contributor to FWIW over the years, a research analyst with a public policy PhD, and the author of several scholarly works analyzing judicial elections. Dr. Klumpp said that he, too, had been surprised at the paucity of information available on subcircuit slating -- but he was willing to share what he had gleaned from his sources.

Leyden Township appears to be backing Nick Kantas his his race for the Gavin vacancy in the 4th Subcircuit, Klumpp said.

The race for the Rogers vacancy in the 4th Subcircuit has attracted more interest from political leaders, Klumpp noted, with the endorsements in this four-candidate race being split between ShawnTe Raines-Welch, the wife of Illinois House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch, and Chloe Georgianna Pedersen, a niece of Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough. Raines-Welch has attracted most local mayors and the support of Leyden Township; Pedersen has the endorsement of the mayor of Broadview. The mayor of Riverside, Klumpp said, has apparently endorsed both Raines-Welch and Pedersen.

In the 5th Subcircuit, in the race for the Portman-Brown vacancy, Judge David L. Kelly seems to have garnered most of the publicly-announced endorsements, Klumpp said, though the positions of the 7th, 11th, and 17th Ward organizations is not known. Timothy W. Wright III has most of the endorsements for the Shelley vacancy, though Tiffany N. Brooks is the choice of the 5th Ward, and Brooks and Wright are splitting support in the 20th Ward, according to Klumpp.

In the one contested race in the 6th Subcircuit, Associate Judge Kerrie Maloney Laytin has publicly announced support from the 40th and 47th Wards, according to Klumpp, but David S. Rodriguez is favored by the 26th Ward organization.

Marcia O'Brien Conway was the second alternate designated by the Cook County Democratic Party at its December slating meeting, meaning she had some significant support among township and ward committee persons. She is now a candidate in the 7th Subcircuit, but the local committeepersons appear to be favoring Conway's opponent, Owens "Joe" Shelby, Klumpp said, with support from the 22nd, 24th, 27th, 28th, 29th, and 37th Wards. The committeepersons of the 11th, 25th, 26th, and 42nd Wards have not expressed a preference in this race, according to Klumpp.

If there was a slating meeting in the 8th Subcircuit it produced no consensus candidate in the three candidate race for the Gordon vacancy. According to Klumpp, Pat Casey has the support of the 2nd and 3rd Wards, John Fritchey appears to be the choice of the 27th, 42nd, and 48th Wards, and Brad Trowbridge has been endorsed by the 43rd, 44th, 47th, and 49th Wards. The politicians have achieved more of a consensus in the race for the Lipscomb vacancy, Klumpp said: Stephen Swedlow seems to have cornered all the announced support, although no endorsements in this race appear to have come from the 3rd, 4th, 11th, 25th, 32nd, and 46th Wards.

Judge Sanjay Tailor has the support of nearly all the wards and townships in the 9th Subcircuit race for the Cleveland-Bernstein vacancy, Klumpp noted, although Maine Township has announced no choice in this race. Maine Township has likewise made no choice in the race for the Jacobius vacancy, Klumpp stated, and neither have the 40th and 48th Wards. Torrick Alan Ward has support in this race from the 49th Ward and Evanston Township; Barry Goldberg claims support from the 39th, 41st, and 50th Wards and New Trier and Northfield Townships, Klumpp said.

Chris Taliaferro, the Alderman of the 29th Ward, has publicly announced support from the 41st Ward and Leyden Townships in his bid for the McGuire vacancy in the 11th Subcircuit. The positions of the 30th, 31st, 36th, 37th, 38th, and 45th Wards in this race are not known, Klumpp said, adding that not even Taliaferro's own 29th Ward has taken a public stance in this race. Similarly, Klumpp said, nothing is known about the stance of Elk Grove, Maine, Norwood Park, Oak Park, and Proviso Townships in this race.

Viviana Martinez is the only 14th Subcircuit candidate with announced support in her race for the Jagielski vacancy. But this support comes only from the 22nd and 25th Wards, Klumpp said. The positions of the 3rd, 11th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 20th, 24th, and 28th Wards are not known, he said.

Jim Gleffe had sufficient support in the Cook County Democratic Party's Central Committee to be named the Party's 8th alternate at its December slating meeting. But, Klumpp said that Bernadette Barrett has claimed the unanimous endorsement of all township committeepersons in the 15th Subcircuit.

The northwest suburban 13th Subcircuit consists of Barrington, Hanover, Palatine, Schaumburg, and Wheeling Townships and it is the only Cook County subcircuit to field candidates in both the Republican and Democratic primaries. In the Democratic primary, Joe Gump appears to have the support of the Palatine Township organization, Klumpp reported, while James Costello appears to have the nod from the Schaumburg Township organization. In the Republican primary, Gary William Seyring has the announced support of all Republican township organizations except Palatine's which, Klumpp said, has apparently expressed no preference.