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| Elections in Illinois |
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The 2020 Illinois judicial elections consisted of both partisan and retention elections, including those for three seats on the Supreme Court of Illinois and 10 seats in the Illinois Appellate Court. [1] [2] Primary elections were held on March 17, 2020, and the general election was held on November 3, 2020. These elections were part of the 2020 Illinois elections.
Justices of the Supreme Court of Illinois are elected by district. Two seats will be holding partisan elections, while another will be holding a retention election. On the Supreme Court of Illinois, seats occupied by previously elected justices will see retention elections, while races with justices not previously elected (whether the seat is vacant or filled by an appointee) will see competitive partisan elections.
The court has seven seats total separated into five districts. The first district, representing Cook County, contains three seats, making it a multi-member district, while other four districts are single-member districts. [3] Justices hold ten year terms. [3]
One of the three seats from the 1st district is up for a partisan election. Incumbent P. Scott Neville Jr. was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2018 to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Charles E. Freeman. This is a regularly-scheduled election (Freeman's term would have ended in December 2020).
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | P. Scott Neville Jr. (incumbent) | 214,066 | 26.25 | |
| Democratic | Jesse G. Reyes | 165,344 | 20.27 | |
| Democratic | Shelly A. Harris | 123,166 | 15.10 | |
| Democratic | Cynthia Y. Cobbs | 103,497 | 12.69 | |
| Democratic | Margaret Stanton McBride | 101,475 | 12.44 | |
| Democratic | Daniel Epstein | 66,762 | 8.19 | |
| Democratic | Nathaniel R. Howse | 41,205 | 5.05 | |
| Total votes | 815,515 | |||
No candidates were included on the ballot in the Republican primary. While an official write-in candidate did run, he did not receive a sufficient number of votes to win nomination.
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Write-in | Richard Mayers | 22 | 100 | |
| Total votes | 22 | 100 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | P. Scott Neville Jr. (incumbent) | 1,765,329 | 100 | |
| Write-in | Richard Mayers | 31 | 0.00 | |
| Total votes | 1,765,360 | 100 | ||
Lloyd Karmeier, a Republican, retired on December 6, 2019, leaving the seat vacant until the election. This is a regularly-scheduled election (Karmeier's term would have ended in December 2020). Three members of the Illinois Appellate Court from the 5th district chose to run; John B. Barberis Jr, Judy Cates, and David K. Overstreet. [6]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Judy Cates | 85,117 | 100 | |
| Total votes | 85,117 | 100 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | David K. Overstreet | 77,438 | 76.51 | |
| Republican | John B. Barberis Jr. | 23,777 | 23.49 | |
| Total votes | 101,215 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | David K. Overstreet | 388,129 | 62.52 | |
| Democratic | Judy Cates | 232,722 | 37.48 | |
| Total votes | 620,851 | 100 | ||
The 3rd district seat was held by Thomas L. Kilbride, a Democrat first elected to the Supreme Court in 2000.
In the 2nd district, Robert R. Thomas, a Republican, was scheduled to have retention election. However, he retired February 29, 2020. On March 1, 2020, Michael J. Burke assumed his seat, and will hold it until a special election in 2022. [1] [7]
To be retained, judges are required to have 60% of their vote be "yes". Kilbride did not reach that mark and only receiving approximately 57% of the vote. He is the first justice of the Illinois Supreme Court to lose retention vote in the history of the state. [8] [9]
| District | Incumbent | Vote [5] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Name | In office since | Previous years elected/retained | Yes (Retain) | No (Remove) | ||
| 3rd | Democratic | Thomas L. Kilbride | December 4, 2000 | 2000 (elected), 2010 (retained) | 452,142 (56.52%) | 347,812 (43.48%) | |
Illinois Appellate Court justices hold ten-year terms. [3]
Incumbent John C. Griffin was appointed in May 2018 following the retirement of John B. Simon. [10] This is a special election for a four-year term, as Simon's term would not have ended until 2024. [10] Griffin ran for reelection, but was unseated in the Democratic primary by Sharon Oden-Johnson.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Sharon Oden-Johnson | 395,022 | 52.44 | |
| Democratic | John C. Griffin (incumbent) | 358,226 | 47.56 | |
| Total votes | 753,248 | 100 | ||
The Republican primary was cancelled. [2] No candidates had filed.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Sharon O. Johnson | 1,603,179 | 100 | |
| Total votes | 1,603,179 | 100 | ||
Incumbent Michael Hyman was appointed in 2018 to fill the vacancy left when P. Scott Neville Jr. resigned this seat to assume a seat on the Supreme Court of Illinois. He was elected outright.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Michael B. Hyman (incumbent) | 273,898 | 35.51 | |
| Democratic | Sandra Gisela Ramos | 207,989 | 26.96 | |
| Democratic | Maureen Patricia O'Leary | 159,423 | 20.67 | |
| Democratic | Carolyn Gallagher | 130,067 | 16.86 | |
| Total votes | 771,377 | 100 | ||
No candidates were included on the ballot in the Republican primary. While an official write-in candidate did run, he did not receive a sufficient number of votes to win nomination.
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Write-in | Richard Mayers | 21 | 100 | |
| Total votes | 21 | 100 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Michael Hyman (incumbent) | 1,633,319 | 100 | |
| Total votes | 1,633,319 | 100 | ||
Incumbent Mark M. Boie was appointed on May 1, 2019.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Sarah Smith | 84,509 | 100 | |
| Total votes | 84,509 | 100 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Mark M. Boie (incumbent) | 52,619 | 54.4 | |
| Republican | Katherine Ruocco | 44,011 | 45.55 | |
| Total votes | 96,630 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Mark M. Boie (incumbent) | 367,036 | 59.86% | |
| Democratic | Sarah Smith | 246,166 | 40.14% | |
| Total votes | 613,202 | 100% | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
To be retained, judges are required to have 60% of their vote be "yes".
| District | Incumbent | Vote | Cite | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Name | In office since | Previous years elected/retained | Yes (Retain) | No (Remove) | |||
| 1st | Democratic | Aurelia Marie Pucinski | December 6, 2010 | 2010 (elected) | 1,406,831 (77.37%) | 411,550 (22.63%) | [5] [11] [12] [13] [14] | |
| Democratic | Mary Katherine Rochford | December 6, 2010 | 2010 (elected) | 1,276,378 (75.40)% | 416,477 (24.60)% | [5] [12] [13] [15] [16] | ||
| 2nd | Republican | Ann B. Jorgensen | July 2008 | 2010 (elected) | 1,090,351 (80.97%) | 256,183 (19.03%) | [5] [12] [13] [17] [18] | |
| Republican | Mary S. Schostok | August 2008 | 2010 (elected) | 1,061,303 (80.01%) | 265,164 (19.99%) | [5] [12] [13] [19] [20] | ||
| 3rd | Democratic | Mary McDade | December 4, 2000 | 2000 (elected), 2010 (retained) | 580,382 (76.10%) | 182,318 (23.90%) | [5] [21] [22] | |
| 5th | Republican | Thomas M. Welch | December 1, 1980 | 1980 (elected), 1990, 2000, 2010 (retained) | 416,928 (75.37%) | 136,244 (24.63%) | [5] [24] [25] | |
Lower courts also saw judicial elections.
The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the judiciary of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the five appellate judicial districts of the state: three justices from the First District and one from each of the other four districts. Absent mid-term vacancy, each justice is elected for a term of ten years, which may be renewed and the chief justice is elected by the court from its members for a three-year term.
Thomas L. Kilbride is an American judge who served on the Supreme Court of Illinois from 2000 to 2020. Kilbride served as Chief Justice of the court from October 2010 through October 25, 2013. He was elected to the Illinois Supreme Court Justice for the Third District in 2000 and elected Chief Justice by his colleagues in October 2010 for a three-year term. After losing a retention election in 2020, his tenure on the court ended in December 2020.
Robert A. Clifford is a Chicago trial lawyer and principal partner at Clifford Law Offices. Clifford's firm specializes in "personal injury, medical malpractice, mass torts, consumer and health care fraud, product liability, and aviation and transportation disasters." He attended DePaul University for both his undergraduate work and Juris Doctor, finishing in 1976. The firm was founded in 1984 to represent plaintiffs in personal injury and wrongful death cases.
Lloyd A. Karmeier is a former American judge who served as a justice of the Illinois Supreme Court from the 5th district. He served as chief justice of that court from 2016 to 2019. Karmeier retired at the conclusion of his second term in December 2020.
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Illinois on November 6, 2018. The elections for Illinois's 18 congressional districts, Governor, statewide constitutional officers, Illinois Senate, and Illinois House were held on this date.
The Illinois general election was held on November 8, 2016.
Stephen Patrick McGlynn is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.
The Illinois general election was held on November 3, 2020. Primary elections, held using an open primary system, took place on March 17, 2020.
Michael J. Burke is an American lawyer who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Illinois from 2020 to 2022. He was previously a judge on the Illinois Second District Appellate Court.
The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 6, 2018.
The 2018 Illinois judicial elections consisted of both partisan and retention elections, including those for one seat on the Supreme Court of Illinois and five seats in the Illinois Appellate Court. Primary elections were held on March 20, 2018, and general elections were held on November 6, 2018. These elections were part of the 2018 Illinois elections.
The 2016 Illinois judicial elections consisted of both partisan and retention elections, including those for seven seats in the Illinois Appellate Court. Primary elections were held on March 15, 2016, and general elections were held on November 8, 2016. These elections were part of the 2016 Illinois elections.
The 2014 Illinois judicial elections consisted of both partisan and retention elections, including those one seat of the Supreme Court of Illinois for ten seats in the Illinois Appellate Court. Primary elections were held on March 18, 2014, and general elections were held on November 4, 2014. These elections were part of the 2014 Illinois elections.
The 2012 Illinois judicial elections consisted of both partisan and retention elections, including those one seat of the Supreme Court of Illinois for ten seats in the Illinois Appellate Court. Primary elections were held on March 20, 2012, and general elections were held on November 6, 2012. These elections were part of the 2012 Illinois elections.
The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 7, 2002.
The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 3, 1998.
The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 5, 1996.
The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 3, 1992.
David K. Overstreet is a justice of the Illinois Supreme Court.
The 2022 Illinois judicial elections consisted of both partisan and retention elections.