James Costello

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James Costello

Democratic Party

Cook County Circuit Court 12th Subcircuit

Tenure

2024 - Present

Term ends

2030

Years in position

0

Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

High school

St. Viator High School

Bachelor's

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2003

Law

DePaul College of Law, 2007

Personal

Profession

Lawyer

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign YouTube

James Costello (Democratic Party) is a judge for the 12th Subcircuit of the Cook County Judicial Circuit Court in Illinois. He assumed office on December 2, 2024. His current term ends on December 2, 2030.

Costello (Democratic Party) ran for election for the 12th Subcircuit judge of the Cook County Judicial Circuit Court in Illinois. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Costello completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

James Costello earned a high school diploma from St. Viator High School, a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2003, and a law degree from the DePaul College of Law in 2007. His career experience includes working as a lawyer.

Elections

2024

See also: Municipal elections in Cook County, Illinois (2024)

General election

General election for Cook County Circuit Court 12th Subcircuit

James Costello defeated Matthew Taylor in the general election for Cook County Circuit Court 12th Subcircuit on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		James Costello (D)	58.0	64,786
		Matthew Taylor (R)	42.0	46,983

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 111,769
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Cook County Circuit Court 12th Subcircuit

James Costello advanced from the Democratic primary for Cook County Circuit Court 12th Subcircuit on March 19, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		James Costello	100.0	17,091

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 17,091
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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 Cook County Circuit Court 12th Subcircuit

Matthew Taylor advanced from the Republican primary for Cook County Circuit Court 12th Subcircuit on March 19, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Matthew Taylor	100.0	7,055

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,055
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Costello in this election.

2022

See also: Municipal elections in Cook County, Illinois (2022)

General election

Special general election for Cook County Circuit Court 13th Subcircuit

Joe Gump defeated Gary Seyring in the special general election for Cook County Circuit Court 13th Subcircuit on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Joe Gump (D)	56.3	58,662
	Submit photo	Gary Seyring (R)	43.7	45,523

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 104,185
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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

Special Democratic primary for Cook County Circuit Court 13th Subcircuit

Joe Gump defeated James Costello in the special Democratic primary for Cook County Circuit Court 13th Subcircuit on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Joe Gump	50.3	11,789
		James Costello	49.7	11,628

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 23,417
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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

Special Republican primary for Cook County Circuit Court 13th Subcircuit

Gary Seyring defeated Dominic Buttitta and Christine Svenson in the special Republican primary for Cook County Circuit Court 13th Subcircuit on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Gary Seyring	43.1	7,432
	Submit photo	Dominic Buttitta	32.9	5,675
	Submit photo	Christine Svenson	24.0	4,131

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 17,238
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

James Costello completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Costello's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I was born and raised in Arlington Heights, where I currently reside with my wife (also an attorney) and our two small children. I have spent my entire legal career in public service, and have only had one client: The People of the State of Illinois. I have spent thousands of hours in courtrooms – in every part of our county - representing the People of the State of Illinois as a prosecutor. I have tried a wide spectrum of cases - from DUIs to homicides - in hundreds of bench trials and dozens of jury trials. Over the last several years, I have worked primarily on complex financial crimes, organized crime, and public corruption, teaming with local, state, and federal authorities against scams affecting thousands of people. I have also been a member of the Anti-Semitic Hate Crimes Task Force since its inception. In addition to practicing the law, I have also taught it at local law schools, high schools, and for the National District Attorney's Association. Moreover, I helped create - and now coach - the award-winning Rolling Meadows High School mock trial team. Based on this, as well as my work with local schools, I was honored with the District 214 Distinguished Service Award.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Experience - I am the only candidate in my race who has tried a felony case, the only candidate in my race who as tried a jury trial, the only candidate in my who has written dozens of appellate briefs, and the only candidate in my race who has argued before Appellate Court.
• Qualifications - I am the only candidate in my race who has been found "Qualified" by all of the bar associations, including the Chicago Bar Association and the Cook County Bar Association.
• Endorsements - I am the only candidate in my race who has been endorsed by the Chicago Federation of Labor and PersonalPAC (Illinois' leading Pro-Choice organization).

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

As a career prosecutor, I am extremely passionate about the criminal justice system. As someone who has represented victims of crime in all parts of our community, from the North Shore to the Indiana border, I have been able to observe the system from all perspectives. This has allowed me to see what works, and more importantly, what doesn't. The one universal that I have seen over and over is the importance of having experienced judges preside over major cases like aggravated kidnapping, sex crimes, and homicide. It is imperative that we have judges that have experience with these types of cases, and are not encountering them for the first time when they are presiding over them.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My very first job was working for my father's law firm, beginning as a "filing clerk" around the age of 9. Several times a month, I would go down to the office with my dad, and file away various documents based on a system of markings that the firm's admins would put on all documents. As I got older, my roles expanded into filing motions at the Clerk of the Circuit Court's Office, organizing evidence, and doing research projects.

Do you believe that empathy is an important quality for a judge?

Absolutely. I believe that attempting to see things from the various parties' perspectives is one of the most important qualities a judge can have. To that end, I have made sure that in my career, I have practiced in all areas of our county, not just the ones that are the closest to where I live.

Have you ever been rated by a Bar Association? If so, what was the rating?

Chicago Bar Association - Qualified

   Illinois State Bar Association - Qualified


   Puerto Rican Bar Association - Recommended


   Chicago Council of Lawyers - Qualified


   Decalogue Society - Recommended


   Asian American Bar Association - Recommended


   Cook County Bar Association - Recommended


   Women's Bar Association of Illinois - Recommended'


   Arab American Bar Association: Recommended


   Black Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater Chicago: Recommended


   Hellenic Bar Association of Illinois: Recommended

Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Bar Association: Recommended

Do you believe that Bar Association ratings are an accurate reflection of a judge’s ability?

Yes. There is a reason that every election cycle, over a dozen Bar associations spend hundreds of hours researching, surveying, and interviewing all judicial candidates, and then give the results of that work to the public free of charge. Simply put, lawyers are the ones who have to be in front of judges every single day, and we all want competent judges. When multiple groups find a candidate "Not Qualified", voters should give serious consideration to this.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

As someone who has spent over 5 years prosecuting financial crimes and public corruption, I have seen the negative effects that these blights have on our system's sense of legitimacy. It is of paramount importance that government represents the people's interest, and is accountable to the people. In my experience, transparency is the best tool in fighting waste, corruption, and mismanagement.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2022

James Costello did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

See also

2024 Elections

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Candidate

Cook County Circuit Court 12th Subcircuit

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Footnotes

Illinois courts

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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