2018 Cook County Judicial Voting Guide

Cook County voters will decide November 6 whether to retain 59 Circuit Court judges seeking new six-year terms.

Though in the past these races have been virtually automatic — the last time a judge lost retention in Cook County was 1990 — this year a series of occurrences makes that less certain.

The election comes amidst deep mistrust within minority communities of the criminal justice system. Several community organizations hope to generate heightened interest in the judicial elections, which historically have seen diminished participation even from those residents who show up to vote.

To keep their seats, retention judges must win more than 60 percent approval from among those who cast votes for or against them winning a new term.

Also on the ballot are candidates for open judicial seats. While retention elections are nonpartisan — the judge’s party is not even listed on the ballot — judges win their initial terms in partisan contests.

Almost all these contested races were decided at the March primary. Given the dominance of Democrats in Chicago, Republicans rarely even file for those seats, and the Democratic primary victor is running without opposition November 6. Voters residing in any of five sub-circuits in suburban Cook County will decide contested races between a Democrat and a Republican.

The Injustice Watch guide makes no recommendations; instead, it offers voters’ information based on extensive reporting of public records. The 12 bar associations — three general-interest associations, and several representing different ethnicities and heritages — each offers their own recommendations based on interviews of the judges, lawyers who appear before them and follow-up research, but not a detailed public records search.

The bar associations voted to support nearly all retention candidates. No judge received negative ratings from more than one of the three associations.

Our guide uses abbreviations in referring to the three general interest bar associations: Chicago Bar Association (CBA), the Chicago Council of Lawyers (CCL), and the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA).

Access Injustice Watch's 2018 Cook County Judicial Voting Guide