April 23, 2025
TOO MANY LAWYERS, TOO FEW JUDGESHIPS AT DEMOCRATS' PRE-SLATING
A Biblical proverb says that “Blessed are those who expect nothing, for they shall not be disappointed.” That definitely does NOT apply to Democratic politics in Cook County, Illinois. In fact, it’s the obverse: Blessed are the powerful and well-connected who expect everything, for THEY shall not be disappointed.
All 80 Cook County Democratic committeepersons gathered April 16-17 for their biennial “Pre-Slating” dog-and-pony show, wherein a slew of supplicants (52 to be exact) wasted a lot of time blathering egotistically about their goodness and greatness (if any). Pre-Slating is like Pre-Boarding at the airport: A bunch of “preferred” people get on the plane first, then the rest. At slating few others do.
According to a list e-mailed to me by the county Democratic Party (CCDP) there were 59 aspirants scheduled to appear for an available total of 14 offices; 7 were no-shows. So there will be at least 38 unblessed people who expected something and got nothing.
The 2026 primary is next March 17, roughly 11 months from now. Illinois’ politics is 24/7/365. It never ends. Pre-Slating precedes the actual slating, which is July 17-18 and gives the party elite (like Toni Preckwinkle, Don Harmon, Paul Feldman and Walter Burnett) 3 months to decide who gets picked. The normal filing deadline for county/state offices was early Dec.; now it’s early Nov. That was done because ballot challenges dragged close to the primary, impacting ballot printing.
Already on-board (meaning uncontested for slating) and in are Preckwinkle, age 77, for county board president (elected 2010), Tom Dart, age 62, for sheriff (elected 2006), Maria Pappas, age 75, for treasurer (elected 1998) and appointed County Clerk Monica Gordon. In some contention is the Assessor’s post, held by Fritz Kaegi, age 53 (elected 2018).
It costs $45,000 to be slated and that money guarantees petitions, ballot position and a later sample ballot mailing to every Democratic-voting household in the county. In a low-turnout (18-22 percent) primary that’s a slate win.
DON’T DITCH FRITZ: The rap on Kaegi in 2022 was that his attempt to down-assess residential property and up-assess commercial/industrial property was crippling Loop construction. That frenzy has subsided. Trades and operating engineer unions are now quiescent.
Those seeking slating, in addition to Kaegi, were Samantha Steele, Lyons Twp. Assessor Patrick Hynes, and Dana Pointer and Timnetra Burruss, 2 staffers for BOR chair Larry Rogers. The Board of Review hears appeals from the assessor’s assessed valuations. “None (of the challengers) impressed,” said my source. Hynes attacked Kaegi for “errors” highlighted in the media, but that seems irrelevant.
NO CONTRITION FROM STEELE: It is not uncommon for somebody to get a DUI sometime in their lifetime, usually younger than older. The legal breathalyzer in IL is a 0.08 blood intoxication level, which means about four drinks on an empty stomach or six with food. Who hasn’t done that? I’ve certainly driven somewhat buzzed on occasions numerous times to remember – but in my younger years. Not so much anymore.
Steele is age 45 and should know better – and at least apologize. But she is in denial. She claims she wasn’t drunk even though police videos appear to show otherwise.
What could be more sober than that? There is a police report out there.
Steele appeared obnoxious, vulgar, refused to blow and demanded a lawyer – all taped on a body cam.
Refusal to blow is a mandatory 90-day state statutory summary suspension of one’s D/L. Some nice Democratic judge revoked that suspension. She’ll likely get the charges reduced to reckless driving or dismissed altogether. But the damage is irreparable. Steele won as BOR commissioner (2nd Dist.) in 2022.
Steele has said that she won’t run for assessor if not slated and would instead run for re-election. Well, that’s a done deal. Her BOR district stretches from the Loop up the Lakefront to the North Shore to Palatine, plus a chunk of Northwest Side Chicago. Announced for the job are Evanston city clerk Stephanie Mendoza and longtime party activist Liz Nicholson. Steele is going to lose.
HURRY UP AND DECIDE: Dick Durbin is dawdling but knows he must make a quit-or-run decision by July 17. The instant he retires he becomes irrelevant in Washington. The U.S. Senate candidates will be congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-8) and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton.
JB THE MULTI-TASKING “OLIGARCH”: Illinois’ roly-poly governor JB Pritzker announced on April 21 that he is preparing to announce his 2028 campaign for president and has scheduled some events in NH, the first 2028 presidential primary. The excitement is palpable. America needs JB and we need him now. Just kidding. Never mind that JB is the quintessential OLIGARCH, part of an OLIGARCHY which is defined as a government ruled by a small number of elite, very wealthy people.
Never mind that Socialist/Leftists like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) are now on a cross-country anti-Trump tour predicated on a “Fight Oligarchy” theme and highlighted by attacks on Elon Musk. There definitely is a niche for a do-not-deport-illegal-migrant-criminals billionaire in the Democratic field.
Never mind that, unlike Illinois, money can’t buy votes in primaries stuffed with left-wing activist Democrats (as shown by Michael Bloomberg in 2020). And never mind that it might seem disingenuous to run for governor in 2026 while simultaneously running for president in 2028. Just looking at JB it’s obvious that he’s stuffed with energy. But JB needs to be a governor to credibly run in 2028. So he won’t retire in 2026. He spent $130 million in 2022 and will run in 2026 on anti-Trump hysteria.
DON’T BET ON THE BENCH: There are elected countywide Circuit judges, those elected from the 15 subcircuits throughout the county and associate judges, who are elected periodically by a vote of the sitting judges. Under a recent state legislative “reform” there will now be fewer associates and more elected subcircuit judges.
In previous cycles there were usually 10-12 countywide judge vacancies on the ballot; this year thus far there are only 4. Democrats expect perhaps a dozen more by the mid-Nov. deadline and their modus operandi is to slate for the current vacancies (4) and slate “alternates” for future ones, probably 6-8 this cycle. This is a sly trick. It takes 5,000-plus petition signatures to get on the judicial ballot (usually 9-10,000 to be safe) to be procured during the August/Sept./Oct. window. The party lumps all the slates on 2 petitions and has the manpower to get signatures door-to-door. Non-slatees get theirs at shopping centers, transit stations and malls (do those still exist?), which are much less likely to be signed by valid voters.
If a judge elected countywide wants to retire, he/she is asked to wait until late October. There are now four specific vacancies which must be described on the petitions (and ballot) as the “Vacancy of (insert retired judge’s name).” If some non-slated lawyer wants to run they have 90 days to get their 10,000 signatures for a specific seat; if it opens late the party can easily gather signatures for a slated “alternate” (of which there will 8-10 this cycle) in one weekend. The task is impossible for a non-slatee, so most “alternates’ run unopposed.
Of the 33 judicial presenters 18 were women and 15 were men. The slate will be Linda Seckey , Tony Thedford, both already appointed, and Steve McKenzie. The real action will be getting atop the alternate list.
GIVE CAM A GREAT BIG BLUEBERRY: When I was a kid growing up in Norwood Park back in the 1960s I used to in the summer take the Northwest Hwy./Foster bus to Lincoln, then to Addison and Wrigley Field and the Cubs daytime games. I remember the hecklers – guys in the front seats yelling “bum” and “loser.” That was called giving the players the “raspberry.” Can’t do THAT anymore. It’s now “verbal violence” and potentially “hurtful” to players’ delicate sensibilities. You know, those guys who make 50 mil and up.
The point here is that ex-MWRD commissioner Dan (Pogo) Pogorzelski, who won the 2022 primary (D) but lost in 2024, is giving current commissioner Cam Davis the “blueberry.” According to Pogo, Davis, the MWRD’s sole White man (of 9 commissioners) votes out of Evanston and has a consulting business in Chicago but also owns and operates North Sky Farm in South Haven, Michigan, which grows blueberries. Davis is also reportedly an attorney licensed to practice in MI.
There are 4 incumbents, all slated: Davis, Eira Corral Sepulveda and Precious Brady-Davis for 6-year terms and recently appointed Beth McElroy Kirkwood for the 2-year vacancy. Pogo seeks slating for a 6-year spot. The MWRD commissioners are paid $60,000, attend (not mandatory) 22 3-hour meetings per year, get a car, an office, 2.5 staffers, health benefits and a pension. Pogo claims Davis “does not have a presence” at the MWRD and “is not active in the community’ nor seen at party events (which was confirmed by another committeeperson, who said there is “discontent’ with Davis). Pogo, however, admits that Davis shows up for Board meetings.
Pogo said he won’t run if not slated. Consider that done. End of story.
LIST OF PRESENTERS AT DEMOCRATS' APRIL 16-17 COUNTY PRE-SLATING
Read more Analysis & Opinion from Russ Stewart at Russstewart.com
This column was published in Nadig Newspapers. If you, a friend or a colleague wish to be added to Russ's BUDDY LIST, and be emailed his column every Wednesday morning, email webmaster Joe at Joe@Nadignewspapers.com