A long-serving Cook County judge who had been targeted for defeat by allies of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx – a move by many believed to have been as retribution for his decision to appoint a special prosecutor to reopen the Jussie Smollett case – appeared poised to win another term on the bench in Cook County’s courts.
According to unofficial election results in Chicago and suburban Cook County, Cook County Circuit Judge Michael Toomin had, thus far, secured enough votes to retain his judgeship.
With about 95% of the vote counted on the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 3, a little more than 62% of voters had voted to retain Toomin in office.
In all, Toomin had secured more than 805,820 of the more than 1.295 million votes tallied in that race thus far, according to the unofficial vote totals reported by the Cook County Clerk’s Office and the Chicago Board of Elections.
At least 60% of voters must vote “yes” to retain Toomin for him to earn another term. If he secures less than 60%, he would be replaced.
Toomin had been targeted for removal by an alliance of progressive groups. That group included the Cook County Democratic Party itself, led by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.
Toomin has served as a judge in Cook County since 1980, when he was appointed as an associate judge. In 1984, he was elected as a circuit judge, eventually becoming the supervising judge of the county’s Criminal Courts Division in 1994. He was appointed to serve as an appellate justice from 2008-2010, but returned to the Cook County courts. He has led the county’s Juvenile Division courts for the past 10 years.
Nearly all judicial review organizations, including the Illinois State Bar Association, recommended voters retain Toomin. The state bar, for instance, cited “his legal ability and knowledge, and extensive experience, fair treatment, and diligence.”
However, Toomin has come under fire from Democratic Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and a range of progressive groups, who are pushing his ouster. They say Toomin needs to be removed because he has not supported progressives’ calls for extensive reform of the juvenile justice system, which they say results in too many teens being jailed, not rehabilitated.
Preckwinkle’s opposition, in particular, appeared to have played a large role in the Cook County Democratic Party’s decision to reverse course and remove its endorsement of Toomin.
However, opposition to Toomin ratcheted up following Toomin’s decision earlier this year to appoint a special prosecutor to reopen the case against actor Jussie Smollett, who is accused of staging a hoax attack in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood. Smollett, who is black and gay, blamed it on white supporters of President Donald Trump.
A police investigation revealed the alleged hoax, however, and the city pushed for charges to be filed against Smollett.
However, the prosecution was dropped, suddenly, by Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.
Toomin supporters say his decisions regarding Smollett are what has spurred the strong campaign against Toomin, not concerns over how he has run the county’s Juvenile Justice courts.