Illinois

Senators Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk each authorize a nonpartisan screening committee to evaluate applicants for district court vacancies and make recommendations as to the best qualified. With four open seats in Illinois and only one nomination pending, Senator Kirk recently reactivated his 14-person committee.

A website—VoteForJudges.org—is providing Cook County voters with nonpartisan judicial recommendations from area bar groups. Fifty-seven Cook County judges are standing for retention this November.

A grassroots organization known as Citizens for Judicial Integrity is campaigning against the retention of four Madison County judges. According to the CFJI website, the judges were elected with "huge contributions from judges and asbestos law firms" and are "responsible for a lawsuit explosion.”

Having raised $1.2 million and received Mayor Emanuel’s endorsement, Mary Jane Theis defeated her opponents in the Democratic primary by a 2-1 margin. Theis was appointed to fill a supreme court vacancy in 2010 and will face the Republican candidate in November to keep her seat.

Thanks to a federal court ruling, abortion has become a major issue in the Democratic supreme court primary contest. The court ruled that pro-choice Personal PAC has a First Amendment right to create super PACs. In the wake of the decision, Personal PAC sent out mailers depicting one candidate as “Not Pro-Choice” and listing another candidate’s endorsements by pro-choice organizations. Four candidates are vying for the nomination.

A circuit court judge and former Republican is one of six candidates competing in the Democratic primary for a Cook County appellate court vacancy. With no Republican candidates, the Democratic primary will determine the winner of that seat and the other five Cook County appellate court seats.

Of the four candidates vying for a supreme court seat in the March Democratic primary, the incumbent and her appellate court challenger received the highest marks from Chicago-area bar associations that rate judges. The other two candidates were found “not qualified” and “not recommended” in various polls.

Two Republican legislators proposed a bill that would require attorneys to disclose to the judge and all parties to a lawsuit any campaign contributions of more than $500 made to that judge by the attorney or the attorney’s firm within the past five years. The bill would also require the judge’s recusal upon a motion filed by a non-contributing party.

A trial court judge was removed from hearing all asbestos cases after accepting $30,000 in campaign contributions from attorneys whose firms had cases on the judge’s asbestos docket.

A campaign finance reform task force recommended public financing for judicial elections. The state first enacted limits on contributions to judicial and other candidates in 2009.