Democrats have continued to hold their hammerlock on Cook County's courts, winning every one of this year's contested elections for judge.
While votes continue to be counted in Cook County, unofficial election results show Democrats triumphed in the five races in which Republicans placed a judicial candidate on the ballot.
Overall in Cook County this fall, there were 11 countywide judgeships on the ballot, as well as 29 judgeships in the county's various judicial subcircuits, which are smaller, geographic regions from which judges can be chosen locally, rather than countywide. Democrats ran uncontested in all but five of those contests.
For the first time in a decade, a Republican campaigned for a seat as a countywide judge, as Tien H. Glaub challenged Democrat Pablo DeCastro for one of Cook County's 29 judicial vacancies.
DeCastro, however, cruised to an easy win. According to unofficial totals reported by the Cook County Clerk's office and the Chicago Board of Elections, DeCastro captured nearly 71% of the vote in the contest.
Glaub held 29% of votes.
DeCastro and Glaub sought to fill the vacancy of Cook County Judge James P. Flannery, following Flannery's death in 2023.
Until this spring, DeCastro had worked professionally as a criminal defense lawyer in Chicago. However, after he emerged from this spring's Democratic Primary election as his party's nominee, the Illinois Supreme Court appointed DeCastro to serve as a judge, reportedly on the presumption that he would face no challenger in the November election. The court said the quick appointment was needed to address a shortage of judges in Cook County to help handle the county court's caseload.
On his campaign website, DeCastro had touted his "experience as a judge" as part of his campaign.
DeCastro was among 20 judicial candidates who received the official endorsement of the Cook County Democratic Party this year.
Immediately following election, DeCastro appeared to deactivate his campaign website, as well as his campaign's Facebook page. Attempts to access those pages were met with error messages.
Glaub is an attorney who serves in the city of Chicago's Department of Administrative Hearings as a manager of administrative adjudication. According to her campaign website, she held that position for the past four years.
Before that, Glaub served in the DOAH as a hearing officer and prosecutor since 2012.
Glaub did not run in the Republican Party's primary elections in the spring. Rather, she was slated as a candidate by the Cook County Republican Party.
On her campaign Facebook page, Glaub and her husband, Dave, thanked "all the people who voted for Tien."
They said they had "heard good news from people who have data from polling stations in areas on the northwest side of Chicago, where she (Glaub) won in some voting locations, and areas like Elk Grove Township where ... she was doing very well."
They also thanked "44th Ward Republicans" for their efforts to help Glaub "put a dent in the machine."
Democrats also won the four other contested races in suburban subcircuits.
In the 12th Subcircuit:
- Democrat Alon Stein had captured 54.43% of the vote, appearing to top Republican Maria McCarthy. As of Nov. 12, Stein had captured 59,440 votes, to 49,765 for McCarthy;
- Democrat Frank J. Andreou had 55.5% of the vote, defeating Republican Pamela Curran Smith. Andreou held 60,364 votes to 48,396 for Smith; and
- Democrat James "Jack" Costello had 57.28% of the vote, besting Republican Matthew Taylor. Costello had received 61,557 votes to 45,912 for Taylor.
And, in the 18th Subcircuit: Democrat John Hock held a 53.4% to 46.6% edge over Republican Lynn Terese Palac. According to unofficial results, Hock had captured 48,239 votes to 42,128 for Palac.