Iris Y. Martinez (born February 25,1956) is an American politician and administrator. In 2020,she was elected clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. She previously served as a member of the Illinois Senate,representing the 20th district from 2003 until becoming clerk. A member of the Democratic Party,she rose to Assistant Majority Leader in the State Senate. As court clerk and as a state senator,she is the first Latina to have held either of those offices.
Martinez was the first Latina woman to be elected to the Illinois State Senate.[1] In her first year in Springfield,Martinez ensured that community agencies like the Children's Place,an agency that works with children and families affected by HIV and AIDS,and Concordia Avondale Community Center,which provides daycare,after-school programs and a center for seniors,received state funding to continue their programming. In 2003 Martinez sponsored legislation,introduced by then-Representative Sara Feigenholtz and later signed into law by Governor Rod Blagojevich,that requires health insurance companies to provide women with contraceptive coverage.[2] In recognition of this legislation,Martinez received the Profile in Courage Award from Planned Parenthood.[citation needed] Martinez targeted Illinois drivers with out of state reckless homicide and DUI convictions with the passage of a new law. This law ensures that convictions received in other states are included in Illinois driving records and subject to state laws regarding further prosecution of these offences. To help protect consumers from becoming victims of identity theft,Martinez helped pass a law that requires all insurance cards be issued without a Social Security number.[citation needed]
In 2004,Martinez was awarded the Hillary Clinton Leadership Award,presented to an elected official by the Illinois Democratic Women's organization. Martinez was the Chairperson of the Pensions Committee and Vice Chairperson of the Housing and Community Affairs Committee,and was a member of three additional committees:Commerce,Health and Human Services,and Insurance.[citation needed]
In 2008,Martinez faced a primary challenge from state representativeRichard T. Bradley,who represented half of her district in the House. Bradley had originally announced his intention to seek re-election to his former seat in the Illinois House but decided instead to challenge Martinez when Deb Mell announced her candidacy for his House seat. Martinez was re-elected,defeating Bradley and another candidate.
In 2018,J. B. Pritzker appointed Martinez to Powering Illinois' Future transition committee,which is responsible for infrastructure and clean energy policies.[4]
After her election to serve as the Clerk of the Circuit Court,local party leaders appointed Cristina Pacione-Zayas to the seat.[5]
Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County
On August 14,2019,Cook County Circuit ClerkDorothy Brown announced that she would not seek reelection in 2020. Martinez later announced that she would seek the Democratic nomination for Circuit Clerk. Despite not being endorsed by the Cook County Democratic Party,Martinez won the primary with 33.73% of the vote and 50,000 more votes than party-endorsed candidate Michael Cabonargi. In addition to failing to receive the party's endorsement in the primary,she had also failed to receive other notable endorsements. Consequentially,her primary victory was regarded as an upset.[6]
Martinez won the general election and was sworn in on December 1,2020. She is the first Latina to serve in the position,and the second woman of color to hold the position.[1]
Soon after taking office,Martinez complained about the state of the office she inherited from Dorothy Brown. In response,Brown released a statement that was highly critical of Martinez.[7]
In November 2022,Martinez announced that the office of the clerk of courts had been relieved of federal oversight of its hiring and employment practices. The office had been under this oversight since August 2018 during the tenure of her predecessor.[8]
Since assuming the office of Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County,Martinez has come under fire for her office's hiring practices and use of political patronage. In March 2022,WBEZ reported that Martinez's office hired a former City of Evanston human resources director who was facing disciplinary review for "mishandling of sexual misconduct complaints from teenage girls and young women who worked at the city's beaches" and was found to be "primarily at fault for Evanston's yearlong delay in looking into the "pervasive" harassment and abuse suffered by lifeguards and other beach workers."[9]
In December 2022,the Chicago Tribune reported that 23 employees of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County's office hired by Iris Martinez performed political work for the 33rd Ward aldermanic campaign of Samie Martinez,a political protégéof Martinez,raising concerns about machine influence on the race.[10]
In March 2022,Martinez hosted Chicago Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 7 president John Catanzara,a vocal supporter of former president Donald Trump,at a fundraiser for her ward political organization.[11] Martinez also accepted $7,000 in campaign contributions from Catanzara's FOP Lodge 7.[12] Later that year,she endorsed Erin Jones,a Northwest Side GOP Club committeeman and supporter of Donald Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election,in a Democratic party primary for State Senate as part of a slate of candidates backed by both Martinez and the FOP.[13][14][15] Martinez's support from and for MAGA Republican figures running in Democratic primaries drew sharp criticism from local progressive organizations.[11] In June 2022,the FOP slate suffered "landslide" losses in the Democratic primaries,and Martinez lost her Democratic Party State Central Committee seat to Delia Ramirez.[16]
In January 2023,the Chicago Sun-Times reported that "more than 50 employees of Cook County Clerk of Court Iris Martinez" were under investigation for allegedly defrauding the federal Paycheck Protection Program loan program "intended to help small businesses struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic."[17] By April,"dozens" of these employees had been fired or otherwise resigned.[18]
In May 2023,WBEZ reported that the Clerk's office under Martinez had been erroneously putting felonies on the records of people who had successfully completed diversion programs for a period of at least 3 years,resulting in losses of housing,employment,and education opportunities for victims of the mistakes. After first being contacted by WBEZ,Martinez's office accepted responsibility for the issue and claimed to have already corrected it,but when notified of examples of erroneous felony records still existing the office deflected blame onto Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans.[19]
In February 2024,Illinois Answers Project reported that the Clerk's office under Martinez violated Illinois juvenile court laws by exposing the personal data of at least 5,000 children,leaving the information publicly available for nearly two weeks. In response to the breach,Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell characterized Martinez's tenure as Clerk as "an out-and-out,complete failure to operate the system."[20] While the Clerk's office itself "did not dispute that the data exposure violated the state’s juvenile court laws," Martinez characterized the report as "lies and misinformation."[21]
Robert William Fioretti is an American attorney and politician who served as an alderman in the Chicago City Council for the 2nd ward,which included portions of Bronzeville,East Garfield Park,Illinois Medical District,Little Italy,Loop,Near West Side,Prairie District,South Loop,University Village,Westhaven,and West Loop. Fioretti first won election as alderman in 2007 and was re-elected in 2011. He also served as 2nd ward Democratic Committeeman for two terms,which is a position in the Cook County Democratic Party.
Toni Lynn Preckwinkle is an American politician and the current County Board president in Cook County,Illinois,United States. She was elected to her first term as president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners,the executive branch of Cook County government,in November 2010,becoming the first woman elected to that position.
Dorothy Ann Rabb Brown Cook,also known as Dorothy Brown is an American lawyer and politician affiliated with the Democratic Party who served as the clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County from 2000 through 2020.
Michelle A. Harris is an American politician who is the alderman of Chicago's 8th ward and the chair of the Chicago City Council's rules committee.
Kimberly M. Foxx is an American politician who served as State's Attorney for Cook County,Illinois from 2016 to 2024. She managed the second largest prosecutor's office in the United States,consisting of approximately 700 attorneys and 1,100 employees. In 2016,she won the Democratic nomination for State's Attorney against incumbent Anita Alvarez and went on to win the general election. She was re-elected in 2020. In 2023,she announced that she would not run for re-election in 2024.
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The Cook County,Illinois,general election was held on November 6,2018.
The Cook County,Illinois,general election was held on November 2,2010.
The Cook County,Illinois,general elections were held on November 8,2022. Primaries were held on June 28,2022.
The Cook County,Illinois,general election was held on November 2,2004.
The Cook County,Illinois,general election was held on November 7,2002.
The Cook County,Illinois,general election was held on November 3,1992.
The Cook County,Illinois,general election was held on November 6,1990.
The Cook County,Illinois,general election was held on November 8,1988.
The Cook County,Illinois,general election was held on November 8,1994.
Michael M. Cabonargi is an American politician and lawyer who formerly served as a commissioner of the Cook County Board of Review from the 2nd district from 2011 until 2022. Since 2019,he has also served as a vice-chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois. Since 2023,he has served as a regional director of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Cristina H. Pacione-Zayas is an American politician and a former Democratic member of the Illinois State Senate. She resigned from the chamber in May 2023 to serve as deputy chief of staff to Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson. On April 2,2024,she was appointed as Chief of Staff by Mayor Johnson
The Cook County,Illinois,general election will be held on November 5,2024. Elections will be held for Clerk of the Circuit Court,State's Attorney,Board of Commissioners district 1,Cook County Board of Review district 1,four seats on the Water Reclamation District Board,and judgeships on the Circuit Court of Cook County.
Mariyana Spyropoulos is an American lawyer and politician currently serving as the clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. She was previously a member of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Board of Commissioners.
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