Judge Ocasio withdraws from Democratic Party slate; Judge Gamrath now slated

Just two weeks after being slated by the Cook County Democratic Party for the Delort vacancy on the Appellate Court, Judge Ramon Ocasio has withdrawn from the ticket.

This leaves a vacancy on the slate, which is filled automatically by the Party's first slated alternate, Judge Celia G. Gamrath.

Ocasio's withdrawal leaves the Cook County ticket without a Hispanic candidate in any high-profile, countywide race. The Cook County Democratic Party chose the appointed incumbent, Justice Joy V. Cunningham, over Appellate Court Justice Jesse Reyes for the Burke vacancy on the Illinois Supreme Court, and refrained from endorsing the reelection bid of Clerk of the Circuit Court Iris Y. Martinez, voting to slate Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Commissioner Mariyana T. Spyropoulos instead.

Judge James Murphy-Aguilú was slated for one of the 10 countywide vacancies on the Circuit Court by the Cook County Democratic Party. Incumbent Marcelino Garcia was also endorsed for another 6-year term on the MWRD.