Besides all the races for local, state, and federal office, Illinois residents will make another key decision this fall - whether Justice Tom Kilbride will serve another term on the state supreme court. He's up for retention, and needs to receive at least 60 per cent "yes" votes.
Since first being elected to the court from the Third District in 2,000, he's participated in more than 1,800 cases, and says it's wrong to say he alone is responsible for any one decision. His opponents try to blame him for rejecting pension reform, but it was a unanimous decision.
"Folks try and make the court look as if it's political. Of those seven, four of those were initially elected as democrats and three as republicans."
The opinion was written by one of those Republicans.
He hopes voters will give him the same consideration they expect of judges - to look at all the evidence before making a decision.
"It's a bad idea to politicize the court system because we're not there wearing a blue robe or a red robe - we're wearing a black robe to symbolize impartiality."
The Third Judicial District in Illinois covers 21 counties, from the Quad Cities and Macomb, across the state to the Indiana border.
Kilbride was first elected to the state supreme court in 2000, and was retained with a 65 per cent vote in 2010.
