In the March 15 Cook County Circuit Court judicial races, Rossana P. Fernandez stands to keep her 2015 appointment to the late Richard Elrod's position if all goes well in November. It was a much tighter race for Alison C. Conlon against challenger Michael I. O'Malley, but ultimately she prevailed.
With a long list of endorsements in her cornerincluding those from state Sen. Heather Steans and U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowskyjudicial candidate Aleksandra Gillespie secured an easy win against Thomas Maloney Cushing.
Attorney Carolyn J. Gallagher emerged the top of a five-person heap while Parillo Weiss, LLC partner Mary Kathleen McHugh won out against two other challengers.
Trial lawyer Susana L. Ortiz claimed that her work in some of the "toughest courtrooms in Cook County" would benefit the bench. It didn't hurt in a campaign against Pat Heneghan and Deirdre Baumann in which Ortiz took a win.
A former Review Board appointee of the Illinois Supreme Court, Daniel Patrick Duffy also took on and won against two other challengers.
The closest race of the evening was fought between Patrick Joseph Powers and Frederick Bates. At the time of publication, Powers had the slimmest of leads against his opponent.