Sunil Bhave to seek 18th Subcircuit vacancy

Associate Judge Sunil Bhave has announced plans to seek the newly-certified 18th Subcircuit vacancy.

The vacancy was created by the conversion of the Associate Judgeship of Lauren Gottainer Eiden.

This vacancy did not come into existence during the regular candidate filing period (which closed this past Monday). It came into existence sometime between November 13 and December 4. Judicial hopefuls in the 18th Subcircuit can circulate nominating petitions for this vacancy; they can be filed as soon as Monday, December 18 and must be filed no later than 5:00 p.m. on St. Stephen's Day, Tuesday, December 26.

It is no easy task to gather the necessary valid signatures in such a short time, especially at this busy season. And Judge Bhave has established a Facebook page advising of his intentions to run, reporting several prominent endorsements, and soliciting help from voters in the new 18th Subcircuit in circulating his nominating petitions.

Bhave was selected as an associate judge earlier this year (he had also been a finalist in 2021). Immediately prior to becoming a judge, Bhave had been the supervisor of the Civil Prosecutions Unit of the Illinois Attorney General's Office. It was Bhave's second stint with the AG's office. He first joined that office in 2007, in the Civil Appeals Division, before leaving, in 2011, for the City of Chicago Corporation Counsel's office, serving for one year there in the Federal Civil Rights Division.

Bhave has been licensed in Illinois since 2005, according to ARDC; he has been licensed in Missouri since 2004. In 2018, Bhave represented the Circuit Court of Cook County against the Cook County Board in a lawsuit regarding court funding. From 2015 to 2019, Bhave served as a school board member in Elk Grove Township.