Your Daily Guide

A Guide to the Upcoming Judge Elections

While the Chicago school board race is dominating headlines ahead of the upcoming Nov. 3 election, don’t forget 61 judges are running to be retained.

Here’s what you need to know.

What are Cook County retention elections?  Every six years, Cook County circuit judges must run to be retained (aka stay on the bench). Chicagoans weigh in with a “yes” or “no” vote. A judge must get at least 60% “yes” votes to keep their job. Retention elections are every two years, with judges appearing on a staggered basis.

• Listen: Injustice Watch’s Dan Hinkel explained the process to City Cast Chicago.

Running as a ‘class’: In Cook County, judges up for retention fundraise and campaign together as a single group. This happens despite individual judges running the gamut in terms of views, controversies, appellate reversals, etc. It’s a response to the ethical dilemma of our judicial candidates needing to run like politicians. Illinois is one of just two states where judges compete in partisan elections.

Increasing turnover? From 1990 to 2018, no judge lost their seat in Cook County. That changed when Judge Matthew Coghlan was voted out following claims he’d helped frame two men for murder earlier in his career. A progressive coalition fought to oust Coghlan, eventually joined by the county Democratic Party. Since then, two more judges have lost retention elections, in 2020 and 2024.

• Hinkel says: “Once you have the job, traditionally, it's pretty much yours to lose.”
• If a judge is voted out, the Illinois Supreme Court appoints the replacement.

Don’t feel daunted: Read up on judges’ records before entering (or even inside of) the voting booth:

• Injustice Watch’s guide does not include endorsements — it’s an investigative, non-partisan rundown. You can also find physical copies around town at coffee shops, laundromats, the Uptown Farmers Market, and more.
• The Chicago Bar Association classifies judges as highly qualified, qualified, or not recommended.

Official endorsements from other groups are organized here. They include:

• Arab American Bar Association
• Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Chicago Area
• Black Men Lawyers’ Association
• Black Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater Chicago
• Chicago Council of Lawyers
• Cook County Bar Association
• Decalogue Society of Lawyers
• Hellenic Bar Association of Illinois
• Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois
• Illinois State Bar Association
• LAGBAC-Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Bar Association
• Puerto Rican Bar Association
• Women's Bar Association of Illinois