Campaign website launched for recently appointed Judge Sara McGann

The Illinois Supreme Court appointed Assistant State's Attorney Sara McGann to a 19th Subcircuit vacancy created by the conversion of the vacancy created when Associate Judge John A. Fairman was elected to a seat on the Circuit Court's 15th Subcircuit.

Judge McGann filed her nominating petitions for the vacancy in which she now serves on Monday, and her supporters have launched a campaign website in support of that venture. That's a link to the website in the preceding sentence; a link will be added to the candidate list in the Sidebar of the web version of this site as soon as that list can be set up.

Licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 2009, according to ARDC, McGann spent her pre-judicial career as an Assistant Cook County State's Attorney. Her campaign biography notes both extensive trial and appellate experience. She also has experience "in specialized court programs, including diversion and treatment courts," according to her campaign bio.

The current treasurer of the Southwest Bar Association, McGann is also a member of the Appellate Lawyers Association, the Chicago Bar Association (including past service on the CBA Judicial Evaluation Committee), and the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois. She has also been a "mentor" for the Diversity Scholarship Foundation, according to her campaign bio.

A graduate of Mother McAuley High School, McGann has also served on the St. John Fischer school board. This is her first time seeking election to the bench. No candidate has yet filed to oppose her in this race.

Radiance Ward campaign website found

A campaign website has been established for 1st Subcircuit candidate Radiance Ward. That's a link to the website in the preceding sentence; a link will be added to the candidate list in the Sidebar of the web version of this site as soon as that list can be set up.

Licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 2008, according to ARDC, Ward works as a Cook County Assistant Public Defender. According to her campaign biography, Ward is currently assigned to the Homicide Task Force Division of that office. She has been with the Public Defender's Office for more than half of her career. Before that, her experience includes stints with LifeSpan and the Office of the Chief Judge, representing clients in domestic releations, housing, and foreclosure matters, according to her campaign bio.

Ward has also taught as an Adjunct Professor in Trial Advocacy at her alma mater, Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She also serves on the coaching staff of the award-winning Philip H. Corboy Fellowship Program in Trial Advocacy. Ward volunteers with LegalTrek, The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree Program, and The Glass Slipper Project. According to her campaign bio, she has also been a volunteer mentor with the Association of Vanderbilt Black Alumni (AVBA), an Executive-At-Large for her union local - AFSCME, Local 3315, and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.

Ward holds a Bachelor of Arts from Vanderbilt University. She attended Chicago Public Schools, including McDade Classical School, Ogden Elementary School, and Kenwood Academy.

Ward has not previously been a candidate for election to the bench. She is currently the only candidate to file for the Balanoff vacancy in the 1st Subcircuit.

Thirty two candidates file for 22 subcircuit vacancies

There are currently vacancies in 10 of Cook County's 20 judicial subcircuits. The 13th Subcircuit has the most vacancies (four), while the 1st, 3rd, 8th, 11th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th all have two each.

Yesterday, on the first day nominating petitions were accepted for the 2026 primaries, 32 candidates filed for these 22 vacancies. (The last day for candidate filing for these vacancies is November 3.)

Several of the vacancies are so far uncontested; we will come to these.

But four candidates filed for the 19th Subcircuit vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Michael J. Kane. The candidates filing there are Monica Somerville, Dave Condron, Jessica Megan Scheller, and John Harkins. Somerville was a candidate for a countywide vacancy in 2022; the other three appear to be making their first bids for election to the bench.

Three candidates filed for the Walker vacancy in the 1st Subcircuit. These are Judge Ginger Odom, who was appointed to this vacancy by the Illinois Supreme Court earlier this year; Tiffany N. Brooks, who ran for a 5th Subcircuit vacancy (under the old map) in 2022; and Ashley Greer Shambley, who has not previously sought election to the bench.

So far, there are other contested races in the 3rd Subcircuit (Sherlock vacancy), where Martin Douglas Reggi and Rachel Marrello have both filed; in the 8th Subcircuit (Mikva vacancy), where Dan Balanoff has filed to run against Judge Lester Finkle, who holds this seat pursuant to Supreme Court appointment; and in the 11th Subcircuit (Meyerson vacancy), where Jarrett Knox and John R. Carrozza have both filed.

Both of the races in the 17th Subcircuit drew two candidates on the first day of filing. In the race for the vacancy created by the election of Associate Judge Lloyd J. Brooks to a full Circuit seat, Meridith Hammer and Natalia Moore have both filed. Bianca B. Brown and Amari Dawson have both filed for the other 17th Subcircuit vacancy, created by the retirement of Associate Judge James R. Carroll.

Subcircuit candidates who are so far unopposed are:

• Radiance Ward - 1st Subcircuit - Balanoff vacancy;


• John Carroll - 3rd Subcircuit - Murphy vacancy (appointed to this vacancy earlier this year by the Illinois Supreme Court);


• Kathleen Cunniff Ori - 8th Subcircuit - Gamrath vacancy;


• Kim Przekota - 11th Subcircuit - Roberts vacancy (appointed to this vacancy earlier this year by the Illinois Supreme Court);


• Robert "Bob" Groebner - 13th Subcircuit - Curry, Jr. vacancy;
• Brittany Michelle Pedersen - 13th Subcircuit - Martin C. Kelley vacancy;
• William F. Kelley - 13th Subcircuit - Thomas J. Kelley vacancy;
• Dan Naranjo - 13th Subcircuit - O'Malley vacancy (appointed to this vacancy earlier this year by the Illinois Supreme Court);


• Julian Sanchez Crozier - 16th Subcircuit - Converted from the Associate Judgeship of Callie L. Baird;
• Jessica Karina Velez - 16th Subcircuit - Converted from the Vacancy of the Hon. Patricia Mendoza;


• Sam Bae - 18th Subcircuit - Converted from the Vacancy of the Hon. Frank J. Andreou;
• Juan Ponce de Leon - 18th Subcircuit - Converted from the Vacancy of the Hon. Jeffrey G. Chrones;


• Sara McGann - 19th Subcircuit - Converted from the Vacancy of the Hon. John A. Fairman (appointed to this vacancy in July by the Illinois Supreme Court);


• Michael J. Zink - 20th Subcircuit - Converted from the Vacancy of the Hon. David E. Haracz (appointed to this vacancy last year by the Illinois Supreme Court); and
• Jon Stromsta - 20th Subcircuit - Converted from the Vacancy of the Hon. Stephanie K. Miller.

Candidate profiles and websites to come in due course.

Seven candidates file for five countywide vacancies on the first day of filing

Seven Cook County judicial hopefuls, including three judges serving pursuant to Supreme Court appointment, filed nominating petitions yesterday morning when the doors opened at the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Yesterday was the first day for candidate filing for the 2026 primaries; the last day to file is November 3.

Two of the sitting judges, Michael Cabonargi and D'Anthony "Tony" Thedford, were slated by the Cook County Democratic Primary to run for the vacancies to which they were appointed (the Coghlan and Karkula vacancies, respectively). The third sitting judge, Linda Sackey (Hooks vacancy), was passed over at slating time. Judge Sackey has instead filed for the Cobbs vacancy, running against the slated candidate, Luz Maria Toledo.

The Cobbs vacancy is one of two countywide races to draw a contest so far. The other is for the Coghlan vacancy, where Ashonta C. Rice has filed against Judge Carbonagi.

FWIW readers will remember that Rice was knocked off the 2024 ballot because her nomination papers were deemed to run afoul of an Election Code provision that was supposed to keep candidates from trying to fool the public by changing their electoral ethnicity, but has actually been applied more frequently to keep women off the ballot where their marital status has changed. See, Rice v. Cook County Officers Electoral Board, 2024 IL App (1st) 240230-U (updated link). (For more on this case, see prior FWIW coverage.)

(There's a certain symmetry in Rice's 2026 campaign: The time it took to resolve the challenge to her 2024 candidacy -- early voting was underway by the time the Appellate Court ruled -- was one of the reasons why the election calendar has been moved up this year. In prior election cycles, candidate filing usually began somewhere around Thanksgiving.)

Slated candidate Ava George Stewart is the only person to file for the Hooks vacancy at this point. Steven Q. McKenzie (the link is to a Facebook campaign page), the 1st alternate slated by the Cook County Democratic Party, is the only candidate for the Kathleen M. Burke vacancy. Judge Burke retired August 31, after the slatemakers met.

Meanwhile, in the race for the Hoffman vacancy on the Appellate Court, the Democratic Party's slated candidate, Judge Judith C. Rice, was the only candidate to file yesterday.

Subcircuit filings will be discussed in subsequent posts.

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Yes, after a more than three month boycott, I guess I'm back for one last campaign. Politics seems uglier than ever to me; perhaps it seems that way to you as well. On the other hand, informed voting is our civic duty. So here we are....