Bar Association Acronyms+

AABAR

Arab American Bar Association of Illinois

AABA

Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Chicago Area

BMLA

Black Men Lawyers’ Association

BWLA

Black Women Lawyer’s Association of Greater Chicago

CCL

Chicago Council of Lawyers

CCBA

Cook County Bar Association

DSL

Decalogue Society of Lawyers

HBA

Hellenic Bar Association of Illinois

HLAI

Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois

ISBA

Illinois State Bar Association

LAGBAC

Lesbian and Gay Bar Association

PRBA

Puerto Rican Bar Association

WBAI

Women’s Bar Association

Members of the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening anticipate releasing their ratings on February 12, 2026.

Early Voting in Downtown Chicago Opens on Thursday, February 12th at 9:00am!

For continuing information about our justice system and efforts to improve it, please visit www.chicagoappleseed.org.

VoteForJudges.org provides nonpartisan judicial voter education to people electing judges in Cook County. We report information on judicial candidates from local media outlets, fourteen bar associations in and around Cook County (the Alliance of Bar Associations and the Chicago Bar Association), and the judicial endorsements of local media outlets.

Alliance of Bar Associations Ratings

  • Bar Association Approval Key:
  • High (>7 Bars Approve)
  • Low (5 or more Bars Disapprove)
  • Results Pending

Illinois Appellate Court

Illinois has five Appellate Districts with a combined total of 54 Appellate Judges. These judges hear cases that have been appealed from the Circuit Court level. Appellate Judges are elected by the voters in their district or are assigned to the Appellate Court by the Supreme Court to serve 10-year terms. At the end of their term, they must be retained by the voters in their district to keep their position.

Vacancy of the Hon. Thomas E. Hoffman

Judith C. Rice
All reporting bars say yes.

Circuit Court of Cook County

Cook County is divided into 20 judicial subcircuits that are redrawn every ten years based on Census data. About two-thirds of all Cook County Judges are elected through the subcircuit system; these candidates must live in their subcircuit but there is no difference in the responsibilities of a judge elected in the subcircuit or through the countywide race. Every six years, judges elected through the subcircuit races must run for retention to keep their position.

Vacancy of the Hon. Kathleen Marie Burke

Steven Q. McKenzie
LAGBAC says no. All other reporting bars say yes.

Vacancy of the Hon. Cynthia Y. Cobbs

Luz Maria Toledo
All reporting bars say yes.
Linda Sackey
LAGBAC says no. All other reporting bars say yes.

Vacancy of the Hon. Mary Ellen Coghlan

Ashonta C. Rice
All reporting bars say yes.
Michael Cabonargi
All reporting bars say yes.

Vacancy of the Hon. William Hooks

Ava George Stewart
All reporting bars say yes.

Vacancy of the Hon. Paul Karkula

D’Anthony “Tony” Thedford
All reporting bars say yes.

Vacancy of the Hon. Robert Balanoff

Radiance Ward
All reporting bars say yes.
Natalie L. Howse
All reporting bars say no.

Vacancy of the Hon. Carl A. Walker

Ashley Greer Shambley
All reporting bars say yes.
Ginger Odom
All reporting bars say yes.
Tiffany N. Brooks
All reporting bars say no.

Vacancy of the Hon. Thomas W. Murphy

John Carroll
All reporting bars say yes.

Vacancy of the Hon.  Patrick J. Sherlock

Martin Douglas Reggi
DSL and ISBA say no. All other reporting bars say yes.
Rachel Marrello
LAGBAC says no. All other reporting bars say yes.

Vacancy of the Hon.  Dominique C. Ross

Stephanie S. Kelly
All reporting bars say yes.

Vacancy of the Hon.  Celia L. Gamrath

Kathleen Cunniff Ori
CCBA says no. All other reporting bars say yes.
Elizabeth Christina Dibler
All reporting bars say yes.
Garrison Fischer
BWLA says no. All other reporting bars say yes.

Vacancy of the Hon.  Mary L. Mikva

Lester Finkle
All reporting bars say yes.
Dan Balanoff
BLWA and CCBA say yes. All other reporting bars say no.
Katherine Carole Morrison
All reporting bars say yes.

Vacancy of the Hon.  Pamela McLean Meyerson

Jarrett Knox
All reporting bars say yes.
John R. Carrozza
All reporting bars say yes.

Vacancy of the Hon.  Mary Coleen Roberts

Kim Przekota
All reporting bars say yes.

Vacancy of the Hon.  John Curry

Robert “Bob” Groebner
All reporting bars say yes.

Vacancy of the Hon.  Martin C. Kelley

Brittany Michelle Pedersen
BWLA, CCL, CCBA, and WBAI say yes. AABAR and BMLA did not report. All other bars say no.

Vacancy of the Hon.  Thomas J. Kelley

William F. Kelley
All reporting bars say yes.

Vacancy of the Hon. Shannon P. O’Malley

Dan Naranjo
All reporting bars say yes.

Vacancy of the Hon. Callie L. Baird

Julian Sanchez Crozier
All reporting bars say yes.

Vacancy of the Hon. Patricia Mendoza

Jessica Karina Velez
AABAR, BWLA, HBA, HLAI, PRBA and WBAI say yes. All other bars say no.

Vacancy of the Hon. Llyod J. Brooks

Natalia Moore
All reporting bars say no.
Meridth Hammer
AABAR, BWLA and PRBA say yes. All other reporting bars say no.

Vacancy of the Hon. James R. Carroll

Amari Dawson
All reporting bars say no.
Bianca B. Brown
All reporting bars say yes.
Andre’ Thapedi
All reporting bars say no.

Vacancy of the Hon. Frank J. Andreou

Sam Bae
All reporting bars say yes.

Vacancy of the Hon. Jeffrey G. Chrones

Juan Ponce de Leon
All reporting bars say yes.

Vacancy of the Hon. John A. Fairman

Sara McGann
DSL and ISBA say no. All other reporting bars say yes.

Vacancy of the Hon. Michael J. Kane

Monica Somerville
ISBA says no. All other reporting bars say yes.
John Harkins
All reporting bars say no.
David Condron
All reporting bars say yes.

Vacancy of the Hon. David E. Haracz

Michael J. Zink
All reporting bars say yes.

Vacancy of the Hon. Stephanie K. Miller

Jon Stromsta
All reporting bars say yes.
Belle Katubig
All reporting bars say yes.

Individual Bar Association Results

The below section includes the evaluation results of individual bar associations in the Alliance, if available, and the Chicago Bar Association. It will be updated as results come in.

Chicago Council of Lawyers (CCL)

CCL: Chicago Council of Lawyers 

State Judicial Evaluations

More Resources to Check Your Judges

Thank you for using VoteForJudges.org!

Having fair, qualified judges is critical to ensure that the rights of everyone are protected. Like other elected public officials, judges make decisions about fundamental issues that affect all of us. Judges decide very personal issues, such as child custody decisions, as well as those with much a broader impact. The decisions that judges make affect our lives, both directly and indirectly, often for many years to come.

We appreciate your effort to vote for judges. Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts launched VoteForJudges.org more than a decade ago in an effort to educate voters about judicial elections in Cook County. It is important for voters to have the information necessary to elect judges they can trust to make impartial decisions based on fair consideration of the facts and law. If voters are informed, the judicial election process has potential to improve the transparency and accessibility of our court system and the accountability of judges and other system actors.

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