The following are Tribune endorsements in contested primaries for Will County and the Cook County Circuit Court.
WILL COUNTY
Voters in fast-growing Will County face several choices this year, with newcomers vying to replace departing incumbents in three countywide offices. In addition, all 27 seats on the county board are up for grabs.
County Clerk: Republican voters have the tough task of replacing the extremely capable Jan Gould, who’s retiring after 10 years as clerk and 33 years in the office. Nancy Schultz Voots, a deputy clerk and 25-year office veteran, would be an excellent replacement, likely to continue Gould’s tradition of high integrity and fair service to both parties. Voots is endorsed over Kelly Frank Turner, a data systems expert with good ideas for database improvements, and Terri Ann Wintermute, a county board member.
Treasurer: In the Democratic primary to succeed retiring Treasurer Jack Weber, CPA Stephen Wilhelmi, who owns a tax and accounting firm, offers excellent ideas for modernizing the tax payment system and for fairly allocating county business among local banks. He is favored over LeRoy Van Duyne, a former county board member and state representative.
Sheriff: Six candidates are vying to replace Brendan Ward, who is retiring. The best Democrat is Nathaniel Romeo, an 18-year veteran of the sheriff’s office who has a sound plan to train corrections officers to run the county’s busy jail, which would free up 55 deputies for patrol duty. Romeo is endorsed over Nathaniel Wright, a retired civil engineer, and Darrell Sanders, police chief of Frankfort.
Among Republicans, Paul Kaupas, another long-time sheriff’s office veteran, has a tough-on-crime reputation and is a more compelling candidate than his opponents, Jim Rouse and Steven Rathbun, both of whom are retirees from the sheriff’s office.
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Each party nominates candidates for three county board seats in each of nine districts. In contested races:
District 1: Republican incumbents William Bruin and Mary Ann Gearhart Deutsche have served well and are quick to speak up for residents on the county’s eastern flank. They are endorsed, as is Cory Singer, a former aide to U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.), over Robert Nixon and Earl Cantone.
District 2: GOP incumbent Richard Brandolino is a straight-shooting peacemaker who deserves renomination, as does hard-charger James Moustis. Don Edwards, an executive with the Illinois Credit Union League, has strong ideas for sensible growth and development, and would be a more aggressive board member than incumbent Glenn Warning.
District 3: Republican incumbents Susan Riley and Ann Dralle have not been sufficiently effective board members. The Tribune endorses only two candidates in this district. Manufacturing engineer Felix George is an excellent candidate who offers voters good ideas on job creation and solving the county’s office space needs. Michael Wisniewski, a software company manager, has innovative plans to strengthen county finances and attract jobs to Will County’s many bedroom communities. They are endorsed. Dayton Jarnagin, highway commissioner of Wheatland Township, also is running.
District 4: Incumbent Edward Kusta is a lackluster board member. The stronger choices for GOP voters are incumbent Wayne McMillan, a banker experienced in municipal finance, as well as respected lawyer Steven Prodehl and Naperville’s Charles (Chuck) Maher.
District 6: Four good candidates are competing. Attorney Don Gould (son of the departing county clerk) would be an excellent addition to the board, in part because of his concern about patchwork land use as the county’s rapid growth continues. Incumbent Kerry Sheridan, who has made forest preserve issues a solid priority, is endorsed. Deborah Rozak, who serves on the county’s planning and zoning commission, is endorsed. Also running is environmental engineer James Wescott, who serves as a Shorewood village trustee.
District 7: Incumbent Ronald Svara, a retired math professor, keeps a keen eye on the county budget and offers good ideas for road and recreation improvements. He should be renominated, as should controversial watchdog Kathleen Konicki, famed for asking tough questions until she gets answers. Jim Bilotta, who offers sophisticated ideas on how to protect the county’s interests if an airport is built in Peotone, is the third GOP choice, over incumbent Larry Troutman and newcomer Barbara Dornan.
District 8: Democratic incumbents Margie Gavin Woods, who advocates more affordable housing, and Henry Travis have served voters well and are endorsed. Incumbent Frank Stewart also gets the nod over challengers LaRon Matthews and Brian McNichols.
12th Circuit Court Judge-B: Judge Paula Gomora is a recent appointee who gets mixed reviews from attorneys. She is preferred in the Democratic race to Bernard Ward, a solo practitioner in Lockport. For his integrity and legal acumen, Republican Nicholas Sakellariou, an assistant Will County state’s attorney who also has represented the city of Joliet, is very highly respected and gets the endorsement over Susan O’Leary, senior legal counsel for the Illinois Department of Corrections.
COOK COUNTY
These are endorsements in contested countywide judicial races and in subcircuit races in the south and southwest suburbs. All races are in the Democratic primary unless noted.
Michael Bolan vacancy: Before being named an associate judge, James Murray, Jr. practiced a variety of litigation, from environmental to insurance. With most of his bench experience in traffic court, Murray has won praise for his integrity, even temperament and legal acumen. Noreen Valeria Love has earned a reputation as a zealous advocate in her attorney supervisor position at the Cook County public defender’s office. She has excellent trial skills and is known for her sensitivity to discrimination issues. Murray, however, wins the nod for his experience.
Thomas Durkin vacancy: As someone who was admitted to the bar not quite five years ago, Penelope Morris, an attorney with the Cook County Board of Review, is getting a little ahead of herself. Same goes for William B. Raines of Elk Grove Village, who started his legal career in 1993.
Kerry Kennedy has the requisite amount of experience, having served as a public defender for more than 20 years. Kennedy is respected for his even-keeled demeanor, trial experience and understanding of the law, and is endorsed.
Thomas Fitzgerald vacancy: Eileen Mary Brewer boasts a killer resume (law degree from Harvard, masters degree from Loyola University and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago) and has earned the respect of peers for her hard work, intelligence and varied experience handling complex cases as chief counsel to the Cook County Board. She is enthusiastically endorsed over two opponents.
Thomas Hett vacancy: Judge Moira Susan Johnson has shown competence on the bench and leadership as head of the Illinois Association of Administrative Law Judges. But her nearly $88,000 in outstanding federal income tax liens, as reported by the Chicago Lawyer, raises serious questions. Laura Marie Sullivan, a supervisor of criminal prosecutions for the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, is preferred for her experience and initiative in developing the county’s intensive Rehabilitation Alternative Probation Program for habitual narcotics offenders. There are two other candidates.
Leonard Levin vacancy: Lucky for voters that every candidate in this race is qualified. Robert Brennan Quinlivan, who has far more experience than either of his opponents, gets the edge. Quinlivan has been a general litigator in private practice, an assistant state’s attorney and an assistant public defender. As a litigation attorney for Exelon Corporation, Margaret Ann Brennan has handled complex cases. Nancy Donahoe specializes in criminal prosecutions and has a good reputation for integrity.
Donald P. O’Connell vacancy: It’s appropriate that the two individuals vying to replace the outstanding former judge Donald O’Connell are excellent choices themselves. Voters can’t go wrong with either Robert Egan or Mary Anne Mason. Mason wins a hearty endorsement, however, for the breadth of her experience handling complex and high-profile cases in public and private practice, in civil and criminal cases, and at state and federal levels. Egan, a prosecutor in the John Wayne Gacy case, has spent untold hours outside the courtroom supervising and training hundreds of trial lawyers.
Willie Whiting vacancy: Lewis Nixon receives the highest praise from nearly all the bar associations and is noted for his good temperament and legal ability. Prior to being appointed judge, Nixon served for 18 years as regional counsel for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He is preferred by a nose over Domenica Ann Stephenson, who also has a wide range of experience in the Cook County state’s attorney’s office and as chief deputy prosecutor in Howard County, Ind., where she ran the child support unit and developed a domestic violence policy used across the state.
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Cook County is divided into 15 subcircuits for the election of judges. The following endorsements are for contested races in the subcircuits.
2nd Subcircuit-A (Democratic primary): Michael Stuttley.
4th Subcircuit-A (Democratic primary): Susan Elizabeth Cox.
4th Subcircuit-A (Republican primary): Perry C. Rocco
15th Subcircuit-A (Democratic primary): Debra Niesen.
15th Subcircuit-A (Republican primary): John Thomas Doody.
