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.