Illinois Supreme Court elections, 2022
| 2022 State Judicial Elections | |
|---|---|
2023 »
« 2021
| |
 | |
| Overview | |
| Supreme Courts Overview | |
| Appellate Courts Overview | |
| View judicial elections by state: | |
Elizabeth M. Rochford (D) defeated Mark Curran (R), and Mary O'Brien (D) defeated Michael J. Burke (R) in partisan elections for two Illinois Supreme Court seats on November 8, 2022. Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis (D) won a retention vote for her seat.
As a result of these elections, the court composition will change from a 4-3 Democratic majority to a 5-2 Democratic majority in 2023.[1]
The terms of the three Illinois Supreme Court justices expired in 2022. One judicial term expired on December 4, 2022, and two judicial terms expired on December 5, 2022.
A retention election for Rita Garman was canceled after Garman retired effective July 7, 2022. Lisa Holder White was appointed to the seat, which was up for partisan election in 2024.
The Chicago Tribune's John Keilman said, "Democrats held a 4-3 advantage on the court prior to Election Day, and the party cast the contested races as a referendum on abortion. Commercials by the candidates and their backers contended that electing Republicans would endanger that right in Illinois."[1]
"The Republicans, meanwhile, aimed to portray their opponents as products of the state’s Democratic machine who owed their careers to indicted former House Speaker Michael Madigan and other power brokers," Keilman said.[1]
Illinois was one of 30 states that held elections for state supreme court in 2022. That year, 84 of the 344 seats on state supreme courts were up for election. Of those, 64 were held by nonpartisan justices, 13 were held by Republican justices, and eight were held by Democratic justices. For more on the partisan affiliation of state supreme court justices, click here. For an overview of state supreme court elections in 2022, click here.
Candidates and results
Partisan election
2nd District: Thomas Vacancy
General election
General election for Illinois Supreme Court 2nd District
Elizabeth M. Rochford defeated Mark Curran in the general election for Illinois Supreme Court 2nd District on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Elizabeth M. Rochford (D) | 55.2 | 318,281 | |
| Mark Curran (R) | 44.8 | 258,014 | ||
| Total votes: 576,295 | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Illinois Supreme Court 2nd District
Elizabeth M. Rochford defeated Nancy Rotering and René Cruz in the Democratic primary for Illinois Supreme Court 2nd District on June 28, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Elizabeth M. Rochford | 44.4 | 42,955 | |
| Nancy Rotering | 28.7 | 27,763 | ||
| René Cruz | 26.9 | 25,977 | ||
| Total votes: 96,695 | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Illinois Supreme Court 2nd District
Mark Curran defeated Daniel Shanes, John A. Noverini, and Susan Hutchinson in the Republican primary for Illinois Supreme Court 2nd District on June 28, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Mark Curran | 29.5 | 31,628 | |
| Daniel Shanes | 28.2 | 30,204 | ||
| John A. Noverini | 21.7 | 23,234 | ||
| Susan Hutchinson | 20.6 | 22,049 | ||
| Total votes: 107,115 | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
3rd District: Kilbride Vacancy
General election
General election for Illinois Supreme Court 3rd District
Mary Kay O'Brien defeated incumbent Michael J. Burke in the general election for Illinois Supreme Court 3rd District on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Mary Kay O'Brien (D) | 51.1 | 349,164 | |
| Michael J. Burke (R) | 48.9 | 333,669 | ||
| Total votes: 682,833 | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Illinois Supreme Court 3rd District
Mary Kay O'Brien advanced from the Democratic primary for Illinois Supreme Court 3rd District on June 28, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Mary Kay O'Brien | 100.0 | 110,882 | |
| Total votes: 110,882 | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Illinois Supreme Court 3rd District
Incumbent Michael J. Burke advanced from the Republican primary for Illinois Supreme Court 3rd District on June 28, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Michael J. Burke | 100.0 | 122,598 | |
| Total votes: 122,598 | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Retention election
1st District: Theis' seat
Illinois Supreme Court 1st District, Mary Jane Theis retention
Mary Jane Theis was retained to the 1st District of the Illinois Supreme Court on November 8, 2022 with 78.3% of the vote.
Retention Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✔ | Yes |
78.3
|
918,128 | ||
No |
21.7
|
254,423 | |||
Total Votes |
1,172,551 | ||||
|
|
4th District: Garman's seat
The election to retain Rita Garman was canceled after Garman retired effective July 7, 2022. Lisa Holder White was appointed to the seat, which was up for partisan election in 2024.
Judges not on the ballot
- Rita Garman (4th District)
Voting information
- See also: Voting in Illinois
About the Illinois Supreme Court
- See also: Illinois Supreme Court
The Illinois Supreme Court is the highest court in Illinois. The court includes seven justices who are elected to 10-year terms in partisan elections. The court hears appeals from the lower courts and has limited original jurisdiction. It also serves as the administrative head of the state's court system.
Political composition
This was the political composition of the supreme court heading into the 2022 election.
| ■ Anne M. Burke | Appointed in 2006; elected in 2008; retained in 2018 | |
| ■ Lisa Holder White | Appointed in 2022 | |
| ■ David K. Overstreet | Elected in 2020 | |
| ■ Robert Carter | Appointed in 2020 | |
| ■ P. Scott Neville | Appointed in 2018; elected in 2020 | |
| ■ Mary Jane Theis | Appointed in 2010; elected in 2012 | |
| ■ Michael J. Burke | Appointed in 2020 |
Selection
- See also: Partisan elections
The seven justices of the Illinois Supreme Court are chosen by popular vote in partisan elections and serve 10-year terms, after which they must compete in uncontested, nonpartisan retention elections to continue serving.[2] Unlike most states, supreme court justices in Illinois are elected to represent specific districts. The seven justices are divided among five districts (three allocated to Cook County and the others divided evenly among the other four districts) and are voted into office by the residents of their respective regions.[2] In the event of a midterm vacancy, the Illinois Supreme Court is responsible for appointing an interim justice. The interim justice serves until the next general election occurring at least 60 days after his or her appointment, at which point the justice must run in a partisan election to continue serving.[2]
Qualifications
To serve on the supreme court, a justice must be:
Selection of the chief justice
The chief justice of the supreme court is chosen by peer vote to serve a three-year term.
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: Determiners and Dissenters (2021)
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: Determiners and Dissenters, a study on how state supreme court justices decided the cases that came before them. Our goal was to determine which justices ruled together most often, which frequently dissented, and which courts featured the most unanimous or contentious decisions.
The study tracked the position taken by each state supreme court justice in every case they decided in 2020, then tallied the number of times the justices on the court ruled together. We identified the following types of justices:
- We considered two justices opinion partners if they frequently concurred or dissented together throughout the year.
- We considered justices a dissenting minority if they frequently opposed decisions together as a -1 minority.
- We considered a group of justices a determining majority if they frequently determined cases by a +1 majority throughout the year.
- We considered a justice a lone dissenter if he or she frequently dissented alone in cases throughout the year.
Summary of cases decided in 2020
- Number of justices: 7
- Number of cases: 63
- Percentage of cases with a unanimous ruling: 69.8%% (44)
- Justice most often writing the majority opinion: Justice Theis (11)
- Per curiam decisions: 2
- Concurring opinions: 7
- Justice with most concurring opinions: Justices A. Burke, Karmeier, and Kilbride (2)
- Dissenting opinions: 20
- Justice with most dissenting opinions: Justice Neville (8)
For the study's full set of findings in Illinois, click here.
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
- See also: Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation, based on a variety of factors. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on the political or ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. To arrive at confidence scores we analyzed each justice's past partisan activity by collecting data on campaign finance, past political positions, party registration history, as well as other factors. The five categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[3]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
We used the Confidence Scores of each justice to develop a Court Balance Score, which attempted to show the balance among justices with Democratic, Republican, and Indeterminate Confidence Scores on a court. Courts with higher positive Court Balance Scores included justices with higher Republican Confidence Scores, while courts with lower negative Court Balance Scores included justices with higher Democratic Confidence Scores. Courts closest to zero either had justices with conflicting partisanship or justices with Indeterminate Confidence Scores.[4]
Illinois had a Court Balance Score of -4, indicating Democratic control of the court. In total, the study found that there were 15 states with Democrat-controlled courts, 27 states with Republican-controlled courts, and eight states with Split courts. The map below shows the court balance score of each state.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Chicago Tribune, "Democrats expand majority on Illinois Supreme Court with wins by Rochford, O’Brien, November 9, 2022
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Illinois," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ The Court Balance Score is calculated by finding the average partisan Confidence Score of all justices on a state supreme court. For example, if a state has justices on the state supreme court with Confidence Scores of 4, -2, 2, 14, -2, 3, and 4, the Court Balance is the average of those scores: 3.3. Therefore, the Confidence Score on the court is Mild Republican. The use of positive and negative numbers in presenting both Confidence Scores and Court Balance Scores should not be understood to that either a Republican or Democratic score is positive or negative. The numerical values represent their distance from zero, not whether one score is better or worse than another.
Federal courts:
Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Central District of Illinois, Northern District of Illinois, Southern District of Illinois • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Central District of Illinois, Northern District of Illinois, Southern District of Illinois
State courts:
Illinois Supreme Court • Illinois Appellate Court • Illinois Circuit Court
State resources:
Courts in Illinois • Illinois judicial elections • Judicial selection in Illinois
| ||||||||||
