December 10, 2014

by Jim Nowlan
Outside Columnist

Serious political money has begun to infect judicial elections in Illinois (and across the nation). What should be done about it, if anything? Will we do it?
I am still rankled by the election for the Illinois Supreme Court more than a decade ago. At the last minute Democratic Speaker of the House Mike Madigan poured about a million dollars into a campaign for unknown Thomas Kilbride of Rock Island to defeat a highly qualified candidate in Carl Hawkinson of Galesburg (Harvard Law; distinguished service as chair of the state senate judiciary committee).
(By the way, Mr. Kilbride may have developed into a fine justice; I just don’t know. And that is the problem: you and I just don’t know.)
I think that election was the start of it. Then in 2004, business, health care and trial lawyer interests spent almost $10 million in a state Supreme Court race in southern Illinois won by Republican Lloyd Karmeier.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.