| Election Name: | 2014 Illinois judicial elections |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2012 Illinois judicial elections |
| Previous Year: | 2012 |
| Next Election: | 2016 Illinois judicial elections |
| Next Year: | 2016 |
| Election Date: | November 4, 2014 |
The 2014 Illinois judicial elections consisted of both partisan and retention elections, including those one seat of the Supreme Court of Illinois for ten seats in the Illinois Appellate Court.[1] Primary elections were held on March 18, 2014, and general elections were held on November 4, 2014.[1] These elections were part of the 2014 Illinois elections.
Justices of the Supreme Court of Illinois are elected by district. One seat held a retention election.
The court has seven seats total separated into five districts. The first district, representing Cook County, contains three seats, making it a multi-member district, while other four districts are single-member districts.[2] Justices hold ten year terms.[2]
To be retained, judges were required to have 60% of their vote be "yes".
Illinois Appellate Court justices hold ten-year terms.[2]
A vacancy was created by the retirement of Joseph Gordon. Shelly A. Harris was elected to fill it.[3] [4] This was a special election as Gordon's term would have ended in 2014.[5]
The Republican primary was cancelled, as no candidates filed to run.
A vacancy was created by the death of Michael J. Murphy. Democrat John B. Simon was elected to fill the vacancy. This was a regular election, as Murphy's term would have ended in 2014.[6] [7]
The Republican primary was cancelled, as no candidates filed to run.
After the retirement of John O. Steele in January 2013, Shelly A. Harris as appointed to fill the vacancy. However, Harris did not seek reelection in 2014, instead running for the seat left vacant by the retirement of Joseph Gordon.[4] [8] Democrat John B. Simon was elected to fill the seat.[3] This was a special election, as Steele's term ended in 2018.[8]
The Republican primary was cancelled, as no candidates filed to run.
A vacancy was created by the 2012 death of John J. Bowman.[9] Michael J. Burke was elected to fill the vacancy, running unopposed in both the Democratic primary and general election.[3] This was a special election, as Bowman's term ended in 2020.[9]
The Republican primary was cancelled, as no candidates filed to run.
Incumbent Republican was appointed December 19, 2012 to fill the vacancy left by the death of John T. McCullough.[10] She was reelected, running unopposed in both the Republican primary and general election.[3] This was a regular election, as McCullough's term ended in 2014.[10]
The Democratic primary was cancelled, as no candidates filed to run.
To be retained, judges were required to have 60% of their vote be "yes".
| District | Incumbent | Vote | Cite | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Name | In office since | Previous years elected/retained | Yes (Retain) | No (Remove) | ||||
| 1st | Democratic | Joy Cunningham | 1993 | 1994 (elected) 2004 (retained) | 729,137 (78.3%) | 202,531 (21.7%) | [11] [12] | ||
| 2nd | Republican | Susan Fayette Hutchinson | December 5, 1994 | 1994 (elected), 2004 (retained) | 616,660 (80.5%) | 149,486 (19.5%) | [13] | ||
| 3rd | Republican | William E. Holdridge | December 5, 1994 | 1994 (elected), 2004 (retained) | 378,330 (78.9%) | 101,216 (21.1%) | [14] [15] | ||
| 3rd | Democratic | Mary K. O'Brien | December 26, 2003 | 2004 (elected) | 380,700 (79.3%) | 99,635 (20.7%) | |||
| 4th | Republican | Robert J. Steigmann | July 1989 | 1994 (elected), 2004 (retained) | 288,136 (79.9%) | 72,441 (20.1%) | [16] [17] | ||
Lower courts also saw judicial elections.