Nadine Wichern to seek 20th Subcircuit vacancy

Nadine Wichern, the Chief of the Civil Appeals Division in the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, is planning a run for the vacancy in Cook County's new 20th Judicial Subcircuit.

That's a link to her campaign website in the preceding sentence; a link has been added to the Candidate List on this site's Sidebar as well. There us also a campaign Facebook page.

Licensed in Illinois since 2000, according to ARDC, Wichern's candidate bio notes that she has been Chief of the Civil Appeals Division since 2015. She began her legal career as a law clerk for Judge William J. Bauer of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, according to her campaign bio, later serving as a United States Supreme Court Fellow for the National Association of Attorneys General. She has taught legal writing courses at area law schools for more than a decade.

Wichern's campaign bio describes her as a California native, growing up near the poverty line. Her truck driver father passed away when she was a high school freshman; her mother declared bankruptcy soon thereafter. Her family faced mortgage foreclosure. Wichern's only brother, who had Down Syndrome, died at age four (Wichern was only two). She lost her mother during her first year of law school (at DePaul).

Also according to her campaign bio, Wichern and her husband, Ryan, have lived in the Southport Corridor area of Lakeview for almost 13 years. She has lived in what is now the 20th Subcircuit for more than 26 years.

Wichern applied for an associate judgeship in 2022. This is her first run for elected judicial office.