My Recommendations for the November 2024 General Election

Early Voting Begins; Important Race for the Chicago School Board; Please Vote for Judicial Retentions

My recommendations are arranged by ballot number. Since our Ward contains several Congressional districts and several State Representative districts, your ballot will not list all these races.

One plea: the ballot is long, and many races are uncontested. PLEASE, MAKE SURE go to page 2 of the ballot and vote for Ellen Rosenfeld for Member of the Chicago Board of Education, 4th District. Every vote counts.

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My Endorsements

Advisory Referenda:

These three referenda have no binding value, but they are placed on the ballot to gauge public sentiment (and to draw political support):

“Should any candidate appearing on the Illinois ballot for federal, State, or local office be subject to civil penalties if the candidate interferes or attempts to interfere with an election worker's official duties?”

YES

“Should the Illinois Constitution be amended to create an additional 3% tax on income greater than $1,000,000 for the purpose of dedicating funds raised to property tax relief?”

NO - raising our income taxes to provide property tax relief doesn’t solve our State’s economic problems, unfortunately.

“Should all medically appropriate assisted reproductive treatments, including, but not limited to, in vitro fertilization, be covered by any health insurance plan in Illinois that provides coverage for pregnancy benefits, without limitation on the number of treatments?”

I support health insurance covering women’s reproductive issues, including abortion.

GENERAL ELECTION BALLOT

President and Vice-President of the United States
(1) Kamala Harris and Tim Walz

U.S. Representative, 5th District
(11) Mike Quigley

U.S. Representative, 7th District
(11) Danny Davis

Illinois State Senator, 5th District
(21) Lakesia Collins

Illinois House of Representative
(31) 9th District - Yolanda Morris
(31) 10^th District - Jawaharial Williams
(31) 11^th District - Ann M. Williams
(31) 12^th District - Margaret Croke
(31) 26^th District - Kam Buckner

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD)(Vote for three)
(41)   Kari K. Steele
(42)   Marcelino Garcia
(43)  Sharon Waller

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD)
(48) Precious Brady-Davis

County Clerk of Cook County
(51) Mariyana T. Spryopoulos

Chicago remains one of the few cities in the country without easily searchable judicial records in criminal cases.  It is very difficult for citizens to participate as court advocates and almost impossible to get accurate statistics about the outcomes of all criminal cases in the County.

While the process to get these records into a computer system has begun, I trust Mariyana Spryopoulos will get the job done.  

State's Attorney
(54) Eileen O’Neill Burke

Eileen O’Neill Burke is a distinguished judge who stepped down to run for this office.  She is a former State’s Attorney who is committed to restaffing the depleted and discouraged office, and to training prosecutors and police to make effective cases.  She will seek even-handed justice on behalf of victims.

County Clerk (Unexpired 2-year Term)
(57) Monica M. Gordon

Judicial Candidates

Judge of the Supreme Court
(71) Joy Virginia Cunningham

Judges of the Appellate Court - each of these is running unopposed, but they are all good candidates.
(72) Mary Lane Mikva
(73) Cynthia Y. Cobbs
(74) Celia Louise Gamrath
(75) Carl Anthony Walker

Circuit Court Judges
(76) Pablo F. deCastro
(78) Corinne C. Heggie
(79) Sarah Johnson
(80) Deidre M. Dyer
(81) Arlene Y. Coleman-Romeo - not recommended by Chicago Bar Association
(82) Neil Cohen
(83) Edward Joseph Underhill
(84) Debjani “Deb” Desai
(85) Jennifer Patricia Callahan
(86) James S. Murphy-Aguilu
(87) Chloe Georgianna Pederson

8th Sub-Circuit Judicial Vacancies
(91) Loveleen Ahuja

Judge, 20th Subcircuit (Vacancy of Budzinski)
(164) Nadine Jean Wichern

Chicago Public Schools

(102) Ellen Rosenfeld

I’m proud to support Ellen Rosenfeld for this critical race. I’m very concerned about Mayor Johnson’s effort to steamroll the board of the Chicago Public Schools. We need a person with strength to stand up for our schools. That person is Ellen Rosenfeld, a businesswoman with four kids, all who have gone to CPS schools. She was LSC chair at Bell Elementary and knows the importance of supporting the excellence of our local schools and selective enrollment schools.

COOK COUNTY JUDGES RETENTION BALLOT

Illinois law provides that judges who are elected are put on the ballot every six years for a determination whether they should be retained in office. 60% of the vote is required to keep the judge in office.

Some of these judges were elected while I was in office, so I base my recommendations on my own review and on bar association recommendations. I found the analysis of The Chicago Council of Lawyers and Injustice Watch to be very helpful.

Being a judge in the county system can be a difficult job; many judges have huge caseloads, and of course, judges have controversial cases. Reversal of their decisions alone is not disqualifying, but issues around judicial demeanor are.

Rather than reproduce the entire ballot, I am recommending that you vote to retain all the judges on the ballot EXCEPT:

(206) Kathy M Flanagan - Concerns about “judicial temperment” have led several bar associations to not recommend her for retention.
(214) E. Kenneth Wright, Jr. - Judge Wright, a long-standing judge, does not apparently live in Cook County as he is required to under law.
(220) Maura Slattery Boyle - Judge Boyle was not endorsed in 2018 for retention, and has not improved according to the Chicago Council of Lawyers. I recommended voting against her in 2018.
(272) Lisa Ann Marino - Judge Marino was also not endorsed in 2018 for retention and has not improved according to the Chicago Council of Lawyers. I recommended voting against her in 2018.
(328) Ieshia Eshale Gray - Concerns about '“judicial temperment” have led several bar associations to not recommend her for retention.
(340) Shannon O’Malley - Changed his name to Shannon O’Malley to improve his chances of winning a judicial election. He has been rated not qualified “over concerns about his courtroom management and legal knowledge.” (Chicago Council of Lawyers). He is also accused of not living in Cook County.

When and Where to Vote

VOTE NOW at LOOP SUPER SITE at Clark & Lake - 191 N Clark

VOTE NOW with your mail-in ballot

In Person Early Voting in the Wards begins October 21 - Election Day, Nov. 5

Vote at these most convenient locations:

• Lincoln Park Library
  1150 W. Fullerton

• Near North Library
  310 W Division

You can see a full list of early voting sites here.

HOURS

• Weekdays: 9:00am - 6:00pm

• Saturday: 9:00am - 5:00pm

• Sunday: 10:00am - 4:00pm

• Election Day: 6:00am - 7:00pm (November 5)

You can register to vote and vote on the same day. Any voter who needs to register for the first time or file an address update or a name change must show two forms of ID, one of which shows the voter's current address.

Please vote.

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