March 2014 Judicial Primaries
We at Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice want to thank those of you who used VoteForJudges.org for the March 2014 primary. Later this summer, VoteForJudges.org will be updated with information for the judicial retention elections that are part of the General Election to be held in November 2014. In the meantime, for information about judicial elections, judicial campaign financing, and other issues relating to judicial performance and integrity, please check out our blog from time to time.
Some things of note from the judicial primaries: No judicial candidate was elected who did not participate in the evaluations process. Half of the 12 candidates who were appointed to the bench lost their primary elections.
Campaign spending may have been a significant factor in some of these primaries. In the Appellate Court race, Sheldon “Shelly” Harris spent $800,000 on the campaign and beat a candidate that had been slated by the Democratic Party. Likewise, in the 9th Subcircuit, Megan Goldish spent $250,000 on her campaign to defeat a judge appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to fill a judicial vacancy.
Finally, there was a record low for voter turnout in Cook County for this primary: only 16% of registered voters participated in the primaries.