Congratulations to the presumptive winners... but....

I mentioned earlier today that Steven Q. McKenzie, Ava George Stewart, and Judge D'Anthony "Tony" Thedford are running unopposed in the Democratic Primary for their respective countywide vacancies and that Judge Judith C. Rice is running unopposed in the Democratic Primary for the Hoffman vacancy on the Illinois Appellate Court. I mentioned, too, that -- no Republicans having filed in any of these races (indeed, no Republicans having filed in any Cook County judicial race) -- these individuals are almost certain to be elected a year from now, on the first Tuesday of November 2026.

My congratulations to each of these candidates and also to each of the following subcircuit candidates, who also remain unopposed after the filing period closed yesterday:

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


• 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;


• 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); and


• 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).

That's 11 uncontested subcircuit vacancies so far, out of a total of 23. (It was 22, but we have to add in the new Ross vacancy in the 5th Subcircuit.)

Anyway -- before objections are filed to anyone's nominating petitions -- before any electoral board proceedings that may further diminish the field of candidates -- already three of the five countywide vacancies and nearly half of the subcircuit vacancies are uncontested. That's great for the candidates in question... and I do mean that... but is this news equally great for the voters? What does this say about how lawyers view judicial service? Or about the costs and sacrifices necessary to attain the bench? What does this say about the health of our political process generally? I don't pretend to have anwers to these questions, but I have significant concerns.

Only one Cook County judicial vacancy in the special judicial filing period

I offer the foregoing headline with just the teensiest wiggle room. The ISBE website shows only one Cook County judicial vacancy occurring during the special judicial filing period as of Friday, October 31. Technically, the last day on which a vacancy could occur and fall within the special judicial filing period was yesterday, Monday, November 3.

The special judicial filing period applies to judicial vacancies occurring during the three week period preceding the close of the regular filing period (which, again, was yesterday).

Only one such was reported. The 5th Subcircuit vacancy of Judge Dominique C. Ross was certified as of October 31.

Persons interested in filing for her vacancy may do so between November 17 and November 24.

It's a very tight window in which to collect signatures and do all the other things necessary to qualify for the ballot -- but this is the opportunity that now exists.

Judge Ross was elected to a 5th Subcircuit vacancy in 2008. She was the Democratic Party's slated candidate for a vacancy on the Appellate Court in 2022, but lost in a three-way race.

Only 46 candidates file for 27 Cook County Circuit Court vacancies

Seven hopefuls filed for five countywide Cook County Judicial vacancies when the doors opened on October 27 at the Illinois State Board of Elections in Springfield. When the doors closed there yesterday, that being the last day for candidate filing (except for the special judicial filing period -- we'll get to that in due course), no more candidates had come forward.

No Republicans filed for any vacancy. The winners of the March Democratic primary will be presumptively elected in November 2026. Steven Q. McKenzie, Ava George Stewart, and Judge D'Anthony "Tony" Thedford are running unopposed in the primary.

There are only two countywide judicial contests. In the race for the Cobbs vacancy, Judge Linda Sackey will face the Democratic Party's slated candidate, Luz Maria Toledo. In the race for Coghlan vacancy, Judge Michael Cabonargi, the Democratic Party's slated candidate, is opposed by Ashonta C. Rice. (A note of caution about Judge Cabonargi's website: As of this morning, it appeared to be corrupted; presumably, this will be fixed soon.)

The only other countywide judicial race is for the Appellate Court. Judge Judith C. Rice is the only candidate to file in the Democratic primary. No Republican filed for this vacancy either.

In fact --- and I believe this is a first --- it is certainly the first time it has happened in my experience, and it may be the first time it's happened since the Republican Party was founded in 1854 --- not a single candidate has filed in the Republican primary in any Cook County judicial race.

Two party system? Really?

Seven candidates filed for subcircuit vacancies after October 27; we've previously noted that Lynn Terese Palac filed in the 18th Subcircuit. We also mentioned that Natalie Howse was planning to file in the 1st Subcircuit.

Howse did file, as expected, yesterday morning. Five other candidates were in line when the doors were closing yesterday afternoon. Garson Fischer and Elizabeth Christina Dibler both filed to run for the Gamrath vacancy. Those are links to the new candidates' respective websites in the preceding sentence; these sites will be added to the Sidebar here on FWIW shortly. (Kathleen Cunniff Ori had filed for this vacancy on October 27.)

Katherine Carole Morrison filed for the Mikva vacancy in the 8th Subcircuit at close of business yesterday. That's a link to her campaign website in the preceding sentence; it will be added to the Sidebar on the web version of this site shortly. There were already two candidates in this race, Judge Lester Finkle and Dan Balanoff.

Former State Rep. André Thapedi has filed for the 17th Subcircuit vacancy created by the retirement of Associate Judge James R. Carroll (which I will call the Carroll vacancy going forward, as the Illinois State Board of Elections is doing on its website). Licensed to practice law in Illinois since 1996, Thapedi is the son of former Circuit Judge Llwellyn L. Greene-Thapedi. She passed away in 2014; Thapedi ran (for her vacancy) in 2006. He was also a candidate for a 5th Subcircuit vacancy in the 2008 election cycle, but did not make it to the ballot. He served in the Illinois House from 2009-2021. There are two other candidates for the Carroll vacancy, Bianca B. Brown and Amari Dawson.

In the 20th Subcircuit race for the seat converted from the vacancy of the Hon. Stephanie K. Miller (the Miller vacancy) Belle Katubig filed as the doors closed. Katubig is an Assistant State's Attorney in Cook County; according to ARDC, she has been licensed to practice law in Illinois since 1997. Katubig has previously applied for a Cook County associate judgeship, but this is her first try at getting elected to the bench. The other candidate in this race is Jon Stromsta.