Three candidates file for late-opening 5th Subcircuit vacancy

Three candidates, one a former judge, have filed for the Ross vacancy in the 5th Subcircuit, the only Cook County vacancy to come within the 'special judicial filing period' in this election cycle.

The candidates are Michelle Cunningham, Stephanie S. Kelly, and former Judge William B. Raines. I haven't found websites for any of the candidates so far, but presumably these will follow in due course.

Cunningham has been licensed in Illinois since 2013, according to ARDC. According to her LinkedIn profile, Cunningham recently became an adminstrative law judge with the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board. Before that, Cunningham served as a Cook County Assistant State's Attorney from 2013 until she joined the PTAB this past July.

Kelly has been licensed in Illinois since 2001, according to ARDC. According to her LinkedIn profile, Kelly has been working as Interim Senior Labor & Employment Counsel for Major, Lindsay & Africa since late 2023. According to her LinkedIn profile, she previously worked in various positions at Chicago State University, ultimately becoming Vice President, General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer, before leaving in late 2020.

Raines was appointed to the Circuit Court in 2014 after winning the Democratic primary for a countywide vacancy. He was the Democratic Party's slated candidate in that race. In 2022, Raines was required to receive sensitivity training and gender bias counseling after allegedly 'mocking and ridiculing' two attorneys "who had appeared before him on a livestreamed court proceeding after the proceeding was over and the two attorneys had left." The quotation is from an Order subsequently issued by the Illinois Courts Commission on December 2, 2022, granting the Judicial Inquiry Board's motion to dismiss its Complaint against Judge Raines. The Courts Commission agreed with the JIB that it lost jurisdiction over the case when Judge Raines resigned from the bench, as of November 6, 2022. However, the action was dismissed "without prejudice," meaning that if the Courts Commission reacquires jurisdiction over Raines -- if, for example, he wins election to the vacancy for which he has now filed -- the matter might be reinstated. See, In re William B. Raines, 22 CC 2.

It is unusual, though not unprecedented, for a judge to resign the bench and later seek election back to the bench. At this point, I have no idea whether the JIB would seek to revive its Complaint against Raines should he be returned to the bench by the voters in the 5th Subcircuit. If there are any further facts that I run across in this regard, I will report them.

No objections have yet been filed to the nominating petitions of any of these candidates. On the other hand, the last day for the filing of objections is tomorrow, December 3.