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Illinois Supreme Court elections

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There are seven justices on the Illinois Supreme Court. For more information about these elections, visit the Illinois judicial elections page.

Judicial selection

See also: Judicial selection in Illinois


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 remain on the court.[1]

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.[1]

Qualifications

To serve on the supreme court, a judge must be:

  • a U.S. citizen;
  • a district resident; and
  • licensed to practice law in Illinois.[1]

Chief justice

The chief justice of the supreme court is chosen by peer vote to serve a three-year term.[1]

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state supreme courts

In the event of a midterm vacancy, the Illinois Supreme Court is responsible for appointing an interim justice. If a justice is appointed more than 60 days before the next primary election, the justice must run in a partisan election in the next general or judicial election to remain on the court. The appointed justice's term will end on the first Monday in December after their election. If a justice is appointed less than 60 days before the next primary election, the justice will have to run in a partisan election to remain on the court in the second general election. The appointed justice's term will end on the first Monday in December after their election[1]

The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.

Elections

See also: Illinois Supreme Court elections, 2030

Illinois Supreme Court 1st District


There are no official candidates yet for this election.


Illinois Supreme Court 5th District


There are no official candidates yet for this election.


See also: Illinois Supreme Court elections, 2024

Illinois Supreme Court 1st District

General election

General election for Illinois Supreme Court 1st District

Incumbent Joy Cunningham (D) won election in the general election for Illinois Supreme Court 1st District on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Joy Cunningham
Joy Cunningham (D)
 
100.0
 
1,571,500

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 1,571,500
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary

Democratic primary for Illinois Supreme Court 1st District

Incumbent Joy Cunningham (D) defeated Jesse G. Reyes (D) in the Democratic primary for Illinois Supreme Court 1st District on March 19, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Joy Cunningham
Joy Cunningham
 
75.3
 
381,185
Image of Jesse G. Reyes
Jesse G. Reyes
 
24.7
 
125,029

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 506,214
Candidate Connection = 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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Republican primary

The Republican primary scheduled for March 19, 2024, was canceled.

Illinois Supreme Court 4th District

General election

General election for Illinois Supreme Court 4th District

Incumbent Lisa Holder White (R) won election in the general election for Illinois Supreme Court 4th District on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Lisa Holder White
Lisa Holder White (R)
 
100.0
 
732,695

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 732,695
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary

The Democratic primary scheduled for March 19, 2024, was canceled.

Republican primary

Republican primary for Illinois Supreme Court 4th District

Incumbent Lisa Holder White (R) advanced from the Republican primary for Illinois Supreme Court 4th District on March 19, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Lisa Holder White
Lisa Holder White
 
100.0
 
120,489

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 120,489
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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See also: Illinois Supreme Court elections, 2022

Illinois Supreme Court 1st District

Illinois Supreme Court 1st District

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

The results have been certified. Source

Illinois Supreme Court 2nd District

General election

General election for Illinois Supreme Court 2nd District

Elizabeth M. Rochford (D) defeated Mark Curran (R) in the general election for Illinois Supreme Court 2nd District on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Elizabeth M. Rochford
Elizabeth M. Rochford (D)  Candidate Connection
 
55.2
 
318,281
Image of Mark Curran
Mark Curran (R)
 
44.8
 
258,014

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 576,295
Candidate Connection = 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

Democratic primary for Illinois Supreme Court 2nd District

Elizabeth M. Rochford (D) defeated Nancy Rotering (D) and René Cruz (D) in the Democratic primary for Illinois Supreme Court 2nd District on June 28, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Elizabeth M. Rochford
Elizabeth M. Rochford  Candidate Connection
 
44.4
 
42,955
Image of Nancy Rotering
Nancy Rotering
 
28.7
 
27,763
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
René Cruz
 
26.9
 
25,977

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 96,695
Candidate Connection = 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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Republican primary

Republican primary for Illinois Supreme Court 2nd District

Mark Curran (R) defeated Daniel Shanes (R), John A. Noverini (R), and Susan Hutchinson (R) in the Republican primary for Illinois Supreme Court 2nd District on June 28, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Mark Curran
Mark Curran
 
29.5
 
31,628
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Daniel Shanes
 
28.2
 
30,204
Image of John A. Noverini
John A. Noverini
 
21.7
 
23,234
Image of Susan Hutchinson
Susan Hutchinson
 
20.6
 
22,049

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 107,115
Candidate Connection = 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.

Illinois Supreme Court 3rd District

General election

General election for Illinois Supreme Court 3rd District

Mary Kay O'Brien (D) defeated incumbent Michael J. Burke (R) in the general election for Illinois Supreme Court 3rd District on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Mary Kay O'Brien
Mary Kay O'Brien (D)
 
51.1
 
349,164
Image of Michael J. Burke
Michael J. Burke (R)
 
48.9
 
333,669

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 682,833
Candidate Connection = 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

Democratic primary for Illinois Supreme Court 3rd District

Mary Kay O'Brien (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for Illinois Supreme Court 3rd District on June 28, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Mary Kay O'Brien
Mary Kay O'Brien
 
100.0
 
110,882

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 110,882
Candidate Connection = 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

Republican primary for Illinois Supreme Court 3rd District

Incumbent Michael J. Burke (R) advanced from the Republican primary for Illinois Supreme Court 3rd District on June 28, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Michael J. Burke
Michael J. Burke
 
100.0
 
122,598

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 122,598
Candidate Connection = 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.

See also: Illinois Supreme Court elections, 2020

Illinois Supreme Court 1st District

General election

General election for Illinois Supreme Court 1st District

Incumbent P. Scott Neville (D) defeated Richard Mayers (Independent) in the general election for Illinois Supreme Court 1st District on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of P. Scott Neville
P. Scott Neville (D)
 
100.0
 
1,765,329
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Richard Mayers (Independent) (Write-in)
 
0.0
 
31

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 1,765,360
Candidate Connection = 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

Democratic primary for Illinois Supreme Court 1st District

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Illinois Supreme Court 1st District on March 17, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of P. Scott Neville
P. Scott Neville
 
26.2
 
214,066
Image of Jesse G. Reyes
Jesse G. Reyes
 
20.3
 
165,344
Image of Sheldon Harris
Sheldon Harris
 
15.1
 
123,166
Image of Cynthia Cobbs
Cynthia Cobbs  Candidate Connection
 
12.7
 
103,497
Image of Margaret Stanton McBride
Margaret Stanton McBride
 
12.4
 
101,475
Image of Daniel Epstein
Daniel Epstein  Candidate Connection
 
8.2
 
66,762
Image of Nathaniel R. Howse
Nathaniel R. Howse
 
5.1
 
41,205
  Other/Write-in votes
 
0.0%
 
22

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 815,537
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary

The Republican primary scheduled for March 17, 2020, was canceled.

Illinois Supreme Court 3rd District

Illinois Supreme Court 3rd District

Thomas Kilbride was not retained to the 3rd District of the Illinois Supreme Court on November 3, 2020 with 56.5% of the vote.

Retention Vote
%
Votes
Yes
 
56.5
 
452,142
✖No
 
43.5
 
347,812
Total Votes 799,954

The results have been certified. Source

Illinois Supreme Court 5th District

General election

Special general election for Illinois Supreme Court 5th District

David K. Overstreet (R) defeated Judy Cates (D) in the special general election for Illinois Supreme Court 5th District on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of David K. Overstreet
David K. Overstreet (R)
 
62.5
 
388,129
Image of Judy Cates
Judy Cates (D)
 
37.5
 
232,722

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 620,851
Candidate Connection = 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

Special Democratic primary for Illinois Supreme Court 5th District

Judy Cates (D) advanced from the special Democratic primary for Illinois Supreme Court 5th District on March 17, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Judy Cates
Judy Cates
 
100.0
 
85,117

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 85,117
Candidate Connection = 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

Special Republican primary for Illinois Supreme Court 5th District

David K. Overstreet (R) defeated John B. Barberis Jr. (R) in the special Republican primary for Illinois Supreme Court 5th District on March 17, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of David K. Overstreet
David K. Overstreet
 
76.5
 
77,438
Image of John B. Barberis Jr.
John B. Barberis Jr.
 
23.5
 
23,777

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 101,215
Candidate Connection = 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.

Illinois Supreme Court 1st District

See also: Illinois Supreme Court elections, 2018

Illinois Supreme Court 1st District

Anne M. Burke was retained to the 1st District of the Illinois Supreme Court on November 6, 2018 with 81.1% of the vote.

Retention Vote
%
Votes
✔ Yes
 
81.1
 
1,106,592
No
 
18.9
 
258,253
Total Votes 1,364,845

The results have been certified. Source
Previous election results



See also

Illinois Judicial Selection More Courts
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Courts in Illinois
Illinois Appellate Court
Illinois Supreme Court
Elections: 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017
Gubernatorial appointments
Judicial selection in Illinois
Federal courts
State courts
Local courts

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection," accessed September 8, 2021
  2. ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "General Primary 2/5/2008, 1st Supreme - McMorrow Vacancy"
  3. ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "General Election 11/2/2004 - 5th Supreme"

Illinois courts

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

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