DPOP a pillar of Democratic Party orthodoxy

It's not surprising, of course, and it is a textbook illustration of dog bites man, but the Democratic Party of Oak Park has followed the Cook County Democratic Party's judicial slate right down the list.

But the DPOP emphasizes its particular endorsement of Judge Levander "Van" Smith, Jr., Maura McMahon Zeller, Laura Ayala-Gonzalez, and Judge Sheree Desiree Henry. Interestingly State Senate President (and Oak Park Committeman) Don Harmon notes his individual support for Clerk of the Circuit Court candidate Iris Y. Martinez while still noting the Party's preference for Michael M. Cabonargi.

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Cong. Danny Davis offers endorsements in Cook County judicial races

Longtime Illinois Congressman Danny K. Davis has his own reelection to look to, but that hasn't stopped him from offering endorsements in other races, including several Cook County judicial races.

In the race for the Illinois Supreme Court, Cong. Davis favors Justice P. Scott Neville, Jr.. For the Appellate Court, Davis endorses Judges Carolyn J. Gallagher (Neville, Jr. vacancy) and Sharon O. Johnson (Simon vacancy).

For the 7th Subcircuit, Davis recommends Pamela Reaves-Harris. (Her name is misspelled on the above card, as are the names of a couple of other candidates -- but I assume they don't mind.)

In countywide Circuit Court races, Cong. Davis's choices are:

Tiesha L. Smith - Bellows vacancy
James T. Derico, Jr. - Coghlan vacancy
U. O'Neal - Ford vacancy
Celestia L. Mays - Funderburk vacancy
Levander "Van" Smith, Jr. - Larsen vacancy
Arthur D. Sutton - Mason vacancy
Teresa O'Malley - McCarthy vacancy
Sheree Desiree Henry - Murphy Gorman vacancy
Lloyd James Brooks - O'Brien vacancy
Araceli Reyes De La Cruz - Roti vacancy
Deidre Baumann - C. Sheehan vacancy
Jill Rose Quinn - K. Sheehan vacancy

These endorsements are being added to the Organizing the Data posts.

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Citizens in Action for Better Government offers endorsements in Cook County judicial races

Another group with a high-sounding name, a website, and a Facebook presence, the Citizens in Action for Better Government is offering its endorsements for Tuesday's primary, as seen above.

At least this group has registered as a political action committee with the Illinois State Board of Elections. The listed chairperson is James Pelligrini; the treasurer is Daniel Donnelly.

I can't claim acquaintance with either one -- but this is hardly disqualifying for them, inasmuch as I know very few people, and few of the people I do know admit it. (I was doing social distancing -- not voluntarily, mind you, but I was doing it -- long before it became fashionable.)

Anyway, for what it's worth (there's a catchy phrase), the Citizens in Action for Better Government have endorsed John Garrido for the McGing vacancy in the 10th Subcircuit. In countywide races, the group has made the following endorsements:

Cristin Keely McDonald Duffy - Bellows vacancy
Aileen Bhandari - Coghlan vacancy
Jacqueline Marie Griffin - Funderburk vacancy
Megan Kathleen Mulay - Larsen vacancy
Joy E. Tolbert Nelson - Mason vacancy
Michael O'Malley - McCarthy vacancy
Amanda "Mandy" Pillsbury - Murphy Gorman vacancy
Elizabeth Anne Walsh - O'Brien vacancy
Lorraine Mary Murphy - Roti vacancy
James Samuel Worley - K. Sheehan vacancy

These endorsements are being added to the Organizing the Data posts.

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45th Ward Independent Dems stick close to the county party's judicial slate

But... if you look closely... there are a couple of departures from the script.

For the countywide Coghlan vacancy, the 45th Ward Independent Dems abandon Judge James T. Derico, Jr. in favor of Aileen Bhandari. In the race for the C. Sheehan vacancy, Deidre Baumann is preferred over the slated Maura McMahon Zeller.

In the contested 10th Subcircuit races, the 45th Ward Independent Dems endorse Jon Stromsta (McGing vacancy) and Judge Mary Catherine Marubio (O'Brien vacancy).

These endorsements have been added to the Organizing the Data posts.

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Judicial endorsements by the 47th Ward Democratic Organization

According to the above flyer, the 47th Ward Democratic Organization is backing the entire countywide Democratic slate for both the Appellate Court and Circuit Court.

So that's not news.

In theory, when the Cook County Democratic Party sets a slate, all 80 committeemen, from each of the City's 50 wards, and each of the county's 30 townships, are supposed to support them, too. So I don't add the 47th Ward endorsements to the Organizing the Data posts in any of the countywide races. Dog bites man is not news.

But the subcircuits are another matter.

With the exception of Jon Stromsta in the 10th Subcircuit, I haven't been able to confirm who was slated by the committeemen in any of the three subcircuits. So I'll add the 47th's subcircuit endorsements in those Organizing the Data posts.

And... did you notice?

There's no endorsement made in the Supreme Court race by the 47th Ward Democratic Organization. That may be significant.

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Dorothy Brown offers her choices for Cook County judicial races

Outgoing Clerk of the Circuit Court Dorothy Brown has made some endorsements for Tuesday's primary.

It's easy to be snarky about this; there are few practicing lawyers who don't have a story or two about lost or missing pleadings or even whole court files. Many times, in preparing an index to an appellate record, I'd encounter motions, orders, or discovery responses from an entirely different case -- and in many cases I and my opponent would have to put together a stipulation, with file-stamped copies attached, to insert the actual necessary papers into a record.

Efiling has cured the worst of this -- especially when efiling was taken from Clerk Brown's control. When Clerk Brown had control of efiling, "free" filing wasn't free.

And Dorothy Brown always seemed to be running for another office -- and never getting there.

But all this is beside the point when it comes to elections.

Because when it came to getting elected as Clerk of the Circuit Court, and getting re-elected, Dorothy Brown won. Her most impressive reelection bid was her last, when she was dumped by the Democratic Party because, it was rumored, she was about to be indicted.

But she wasn't indicted.

And the good, church-going ladies and everyone else who had supported her in the past came out to support her again.

So while many practitioners may not be particularly concerned about Dorothy Brown's endorsements, I suggest that her recommendations may well translate into actual votes from persons that supported her in the past.

Without further preamble, then, Clerk Brown has endorsed Justice Nathaniel Roosevelt Howse for the Supreme Court and Judge Sharon O. Johnson for the Simon vacancy on the Appellate Court.

In contested countywide Circuit Court races, Dorothy Brown has made the following recommendations:

Tiesha L. Smith - Bellows vacancy
James T. Derico, Jr. - Coghlan vacancy
U. O'Neal - Ford vacancy
Celestia L. Mays - Funderburk vacancy
Levander "Van" Smith, Jr. - Larsen vacancy
Arthur D. Sutton - Mason vacancy
Sheree Desiree Henry - Murphy Gorman vacancy
Lloyd James Brooks - O'Brien vacancy
Deidre Baumann - C. Sheehan vacancy

The Organizing the Data posts are being updated accordingly.

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Italian American Police Association of Illinois makes endorsements in Cook County judicial races

You have to dig a bit on the group's Facebook page to find them, but the Italian American Police Association of Illinois has made endorsements in several races, judicial and otherwise, on the March primary ballots.

The IAPA has endorsed two candidates in the race for the Illinois Supreme Court, Appellate Court Justices Jesse G. Reyes and Margaret Stanton McBride. The group endorsed Judge Carolyn J. Gallagher for the Neville, Jr. vacancy on the Illinois Appellate Court.

In countywide races for the Circuit Court, the IAPA endorsed:

Cristin Keely McDonald Duffy - Bellows vacancy
Elizabeth "Beth" Ryan - Coghlan vacancy
Laura Ayala-Gonzalez - Ford vacancy
Jacqueline Marie Griffin - Funderburk vacancy
Megan Kathleen Mulay - Larsen vacancy
Joy E. Tolbert Nelson - Mason vacancy
Michael O'Malley - McCarthy vacancy
Amanda "Mandy" Pillsbury - Murphy Gorman vacancy
Elizabeth Anne Walsh - O'Brien vacancy
Heather Anne Kent - O'Brien vacancy
Lorraine Mary Murphy - Roti vacancy
Russell W. Hartigan - C. Sheehan vacancy

In subcircuit races, the IAPA's choices were:

Erin Haggerty Antonietti - 3rd Subcircuit, Murphy vacancy

Pamela "Pam" Stratigakis - 9th Subcircuit, Axelrood vacancy

John Garrido - 10th Subcircuit, McGing vacancy
Daniel Alexander Trevino - 10th Subcircuit, O'Brien vacancy

Patricia M. Fallon - 12th Subcircuit, Hanlon vacancy
Frank R. DiFranco - 12th Subcircuit, Hanlon vacancy (Republican candidate)

Susanne Michelle Groebner - 13th Subcircuit, Kulys Hoffman vacancy

Heather Mulligan Begley - 15th Subcircuit, Griffin vacancy

These endorsements will be added to the Organizing the Data posts.

In other matters of potential interest to FWIW readers, the Italian American Police Association also endorsed Bob Fioretti and Christopher E.K. Pfannkuche for the Democratic and Republican nominations for Cook County State's Attorney. Richard Boykin was the group's choice for the Democratic nomination for Clerk of the Circuit Court.

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Indo-American Democratic Organization announces Cook County judicial endorsements

The Indo-American Democratic Organization has announced its endorsements for the March primary. For a complete list of IADO's endorsements, click here.

In contested Cook County judicial races, the IADO has made the following endorsements:

Supreme Court
Jesse G. Reyes - Freeman vacancy

Appellate Court
Michael B. Hyman - Neville vacancy
John Griffin - Simon vacancy

Countywide Vacancies
Kerrie Maloney Laytin - Bellows vacancy
Aileen Bhandari - Coghlan vacancy
Laura Ayala-Gonzalez - Ford vacancy
Celestia L. Mays - Funderburk vacancy
Suzanne Therese McEneely - Larsen vacancy
Teresa Molina - McCarthy vacancy
Heather Anne Kent - O'Brien vacancy
Araceli Reyes De La Cruz - Roti vacancy
Russell Hartigan - C.Sheehan vacancy
Jill Rose Quinn - K.Sheehan vacancy

Subcircuit Vacancies
Jamie Guerra Dickler - 6th Subcircuit, Nega vacancy
Eileen Marie O'Connor - 6th Subcircuit, Pantle vacancy

Jonathan Clark Green - 8th Subcircuit, Fleming vacancy

Pamela "Pam" Stratigakis - 9th Subcircuit, Axelrood vacancy
Michael Alan Strom - 9th Subcircuit, Luckman vacancy

Jon Stromsta - 10th Subcircuit, McGing vacancy

Patricia Fallon - 12th Subcircuit, Hanlon vacancy

Matt Flamm - 13th Subcircuit, Kulys Hoffman vacancy
Michael P. Gerber - 13th Subcircuit, Kulys Hoffman vacancy

These endorsements are being added to the Organizing the Data posts.

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The Soul Slate PAC announces Cook County judicial picks

There was a political action committee registered with the Illinois State Board of Elections called The Soul Slate Political Action Committee, but it was closed out before the turn of the century. And yet The Soul Slate PAC still exists, on Facebook if not elsewhere, and this is the slate it is promoting. These endorsements have been added to the Organizing the Data Posts.

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