Five judicial candidates ranked as ‘highly recommended’ in Illinois Supreme Court, appellate races

Three candidates vying for a seat on the Illinois Supreme Court this fall are “highly recommended” by Illinois State Bar Association, which ranks candidates running in judicial races.

The Illinois State Bar Association released the rankings after asking candidates to participate in a review process that includes a personal statement, a detailed background investigation by members of the ISBA Judicial Evaluations Committee and an in-person interview of the candidate, according to the ISBA website.

Those who have worked with the candidate, including judges, lawyers and court personnel, are interviewed about the candidates’ litigation experience, legal knowledge, character, health and professional and judicial temperament, according to the ISBA website.

The poll is confidential and conducted by mail or email. Candidates and judges are rated “highly recommended,” “recommended” or “not recommended” based on whether respondents agree that the candidate “meets acceptable requirements for the office”.

Those receiving 65% or more “yes” responses to that question are rated “recommended” and those receiving less than 65% are rated “not recommended.” Opinions expressed in the poll are of those attorneys who chose to respond and do not reflect the opinion of the Illinois State Bar Association or the opinion of all Illinois attorneys, according to the ISBA website.

Candidates running in the 2nd District – which includes McHenry, DeKalb, Kendall, Kane and Lake counties – for the Illinois Supreme Court include Democrats Rene Cruz, Nancy Rotering and Elizabeth Rochford. Republicans hoping to win the seat are Mark C. Curran Jr., John A. Noverini, Daniel B. Shanes and Susan F. Hutchinson.

[ Read about the Democrats running in the June primary for the Illinois Supreme Court's 2nd District seat here. ]

Hutchinson, Shanes and Rochford were ranked as “highly recommended,” and Cruz was “recommended.” Curran and Rotering were ranked as “not recommended,” according to the ISBA website.

Noverini also was listed as “not recommended” but an explanation provided next to his name said he declined to participate in the poll.

[ Read about the Republicans running in the June primary for the Illinois Supreme Court's 2nd District seat here. ]

Four candidates are running for an Appellate Court seat representing the Second District.

They include three Democrats Erin Cartwright Weinstein, Michael Cortina and Christopher Kennedy and one Republican, Susan Clancy Boles. The ISBA ranked Boles and Kennedy as “highly recommended,” Cortina as “recommended” and Cartwright Weinstein as “not recommended.”

[ Read about the Democrats running in the June primary for the 2nd District appellate seat here. ]