Illinois local trial court judicial elections, 2016
From Ballotpedia
Illinois held general elections for local judicial offices on November 8, 2016. A primary election took place on March 15, 2016. In St. Clair County, three candidates elected to retire from their judgeships and seek re-election to those seats rather than run in retention elections, since election rules require a smaller vote margin to maintain office. The legality of this move was questioned, and the issue was brought before the Illinois State Board of Elections where the motion failed on a 4-4 tied vote.[1] Read more about this story here.
Elections
Contested general elections
Uncontested races
Retention
Contested primaries
Election rules
Primary election
The general primary occurs on the third Tuesday in March.[2] Unlike many states with contested judicial elections, races in Illinois are regularly contested, often with several candidates running for a seat. The Illinois primary is closed, meaning that voters must declare which major political party's ballot they wish to vote on.[3]
The candidate that wins the most votes in the primary advances to the general election to compete against the candidate from the other party.[2] If only one party has candidates in a primary race, that winner will continue on to run unopposed in the general election.[4] Uncontested primary candidates are not included on the primary ballot but are instead automatically advanced to the general election.[2][5]
General election
The general election is held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November.[2]
Retention election
At the expiration of their term, judges may run for retention. Judges seeking retention are required to file a declaration of candidacy to succeed themselves with the secretary of state at least six months prior to the general election. The names of judges seeking retention are then given to voters on a special judicial ballot—without party designation and without an opposing candidate—featuring the sole question of whether he or she should be retained for another term in office.[6] Retention elections are held along with the general elections in the specific district or circuit where the judge is seeking retention. To be retained, judges must receive three-fifths of the vote.[7]
Issues
Three judges facing retention elections resign and run for re-election instead
Three incumbent judges—John Baricevic, Robert Haida and Robert LeChien—opted to retire from their judgeships and sought election to judicial seats rather than run in a retention election. To win a retention election in Illinois, a candidate must receive 60 percent of the vote; in a standard election, a candidate needs only a majority of votes (more than 50 percent) to win.[1][8]
Baricevic justified the strategy by saying that opponents had promised to campaign against the retentions of the three judges. He argued that, in retention elections, he and his fellow judges would have been prohibited by judicial conduct rules from defending themselves from what he referred to as the "smear campaigns" of opponents.[8]
| “ | Retentions used to be low-key events. Then the Chamber of Commerce began dumping money on campaigns against Democratic judges. If we run for retention, we can’t talk about it. That inability to respond would result in a reduction of votes. Certainly we are concerned. We like our jobs.[9] | ” |
| —John Baricevic[8] |
Haida also spoke out, arguing that "[t]he most important thing is that the people, the voters of the district, get to decide who their judges are," referencing the fact that, if an Illinois judge loses a retention election, their successor is appointed rather than elected.[10]
Dallas Cook, a Republican candidate for St. Clair County circuit clerk, raised an objection to the nomination papers of the three candidates, and sought to strike their names from the ballot. Cook argued that the nominations violated Article 6 Section 12(d) of the Illinois Constitution, which requires judges to seek retention election for circuit court judgeships. Since Baricevic, Haida and LeChien had not filed the papers for retention election by the required deadline, Cook argued that the three should not be allowed to run for the circuit judgeships.[1] Cook argued that the judges' decision to run in partisan elections rather than nonpartisan retention elections exhibited a disregard for the state constitution's original intent:
| “ | The people who wrote the constitution of the state of Illinois made it very clear, their intent was a judge having been elected, is to seek retention. That is the process. Never in their minds did they dream some judges would do this. We cannot have judges who are political. When a judge is forced to run as a Democrat, once they’ve already been elected, we’ve brought politics back into our courthouse. The purpose of retention is for impartiality.[9] | ” |
| —Dallas Cook, Belleville city clerk[11] |
Mary Thurman, the secretary of the county GOP, voiced support for Cook's complaint, accusing the three judges of acting deceitfully and arguing that "what they are doing is absolutely unethical."[8] Said Thurman, "These judges have tried to keep the power in the hands of their cronies and political partners, by tricking and deceiving the electorate."[11]
Baricevic stated that he, Haida and LeChien "are absolutely convinced that [their] action is legal and ethical." The judges' lawyer cited the language of the Illinois Constitution, which says that judges "may" seek retention election, and argued that this wording implies that judges are not required to go the retention route.[8]
The issue was brought before the Illinois State Board of Elections, who voted on a motion that would bar the three from remaining candidates. On a 4-4 tie vote, the motion failed. Cook voiced his intent to continue opposing the judges' candidacies, indicating that he planned to file an appeal with the circuit court in Sangamon County.[8]
After their tied vote, the Board considered whether or not to seek a legal opinion from Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. On a 6-2 vote, they chose in favor of seeking her opinion on the issue.[12]
A similar strategy was employed by a previous judicial candidate. Former circuit judge Lloyd Cueto resigned from his position and sought re-election in 2006 rather than face a retention vote. Cueto won the election with a 56 percent majority. This was enough of the vote to win him the election, but it would not have been enough to keep his seat in a retention election.[8]
Recent news
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See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Madison Record, "Objections to Baricevic, LeChien and Haida candidacies raised; Judges should have to run for retention, not re-election, petitions say," December 8, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Illinois State Board of Elections, "Voting on Election Day," accessed January 25, 2016
- ↑ Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago, "2014 Primary: Frequently Asked Questions," accessed March 12, 2014
- ↑ The News-Gazette, "John Roska: Judicial elections explained," March 9, 2014
- ↑ The Chicago Tribune, "Unopposed Candidates Find Waiting The Primary Concern," February 3, 1992, accessed March 7, 2014
- ↑ The Illinois Courts, "About the Courts in Illinois," accessed March 10, 2014
- ↑ Illinois Constitution, Article VI, Section 12 (d)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "St. Clair County judges can quit and run again rather than face retention vote," January 19, 2016
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Belleville News-Democrat, "State board deadlocks on vote to accept report favorable to St. Clair County judges who remain on ballot," January 20, 2016
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Belleville News-Democrat, "Group rallies ahead of hearing on whether St. Clair County judges can stay on ballot," January 19, 2016
- ↑ The State Journal-Register, "Legal advice sought on St. Clair judges' re-election tactics," January 21, 2016
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