On September 10 and 11, 2009 the Cook County Central Committee met to perform the task of slate-making. As one of 80 Committeeman from the townships and wards of Cook County I am elected to represent the 49th Ward at these meetings. While elected, this is a voluntary party office with no salary.
The process in which candidate nominations proceed towards endorsement are through a committee process. Four committees exist currently, Supreme & Appellate Court Judges, Circuit Court Judges, County-wide/MWRD, and new this year, State-wide. Members are appointed to the committees by the County Party Chairman most often based on individual Committeeman's requests.
Each committee hears from any and all candidates wishing to present for the offices their committee is responsible for and they vote to make recommendations to the Central Committee, which is a committee of all 80 committeeman, as to who to support. I currently serve on the Supreme/Appellate Court, County-wide/MWRD and State-wide committees.
Recommendations from each of the committees are presented by the committee chairs and at this point the Central Committee accepts motions and proceeds to vote. Motions can be made in nearly any way you can imagine, and there is no standard way of doing it. Voting occurs in different ways as well. By voice vote, by standing vote, by raising hands or by roll call voting. The complicating factor in voting is that votes are cast by weighted vote based on Democratic Party primary votes cast in the most recent general primary election (even year primary election). The number each Ward/Township casts can therefore vary from about 1,700 to 41,000 based on turnout as indicated above. Townships tend to have greater variation in weighted vote because 1. they are geographically determined unlike city wards which are population determined and 2. because some of the townships have significant Republican populations which leaves fewer people voting in the Democratic primary.
An important note to remember is that for all of the time I have served as the Democratic Committeeman of the 49th Ward the Central Committee meeting is secondary to our own endorsement session at the ward level. It is the results of that ward level endorsement session vote that determine who will appear on our sample ballot and be endorsed by our organization. That is one of the first things I changed once becoming Committeeman. I believed that an inclusive grass-roots driven organization voting at the local level is the best way to endorse candidates for any office with the exception of Judge. The exception for judge is simply because people generally don't have the knowledge nor the interest to determine who would be a qualified judge. This process we use in the 49th Ward is not the norm in Cook County though. I would guess that no more than about 10% of the ward/township organizations have binding endorsement sessions at the local level. We are unusual and fortunate in this respect.
The following is a summary of the outcome of the two day slate-making process for the Cook County Democratic Party and I have included where I am currently standing in terms of supporting various candidates.
| Fagus Supports: | Office: |
Cook County Democratic Party |
| David Hoffman | U.S. Senate | Alexi Giannoulious |
| Pat Quinn | Governor | Pat Quinn |
| Undecided | Lt. Governor | Open Primary |
| Lisa Madigan | Attorney General | Lisa Madigan |
| Jesse White | Secretary of State | Jesse White |
| Raja Krishmoorithi | Comptroller | David Miller |
| Robyn Kelly | Treasurer | Robyn Kelly |
| Danny Davis | County Board President | Open Primary |
| Tom Dart | Sheriff* | Tom Dart |
| David Orr | County Clerk* | David Orr |
| Maria Pappas | County Treasurer* | Maria Pappas |
| No Endorsement | County Assessor* | Joeseph Berrios |
| Todd Conner | MWRD | Mike Alverez |
| Mariyana Spyropoulos | MWRD | Mariyana Spyropoulos |
| Undecided | MWRD | Barbara McGowen |
| James Epstein | Appelate Court | James Epstein |
| Pamela Hill-Veal | Appelate Court | Pamela Hill-Veal |
| Sebastian Patti | Appelate Court | Sebastian Patti |
| Undecided | Circuit Court | Linda Pauel |
| Undecided | Circuit Court | Sandra Ramos |
| Undecided | Circuit Court | William Hooks |
| Undecided | Circuit Court | Ray Mitchell |
| Undecided | Circuit Court | Tom Lyons |
| Undecided | Circuit Court | John Patrick Callahan |
| Undecided | Circuit Court | Diann Marsalek |
Notes:
* These four candidates were presented in a single motion with a voice vote. Only Choices: All yes or all no. Voted Yes.
- Committee Motion for U.S. Senate was to support Alexi Giannoulious. Motion passed. No other opportunity for other candidates.
- Seven candidates running for Lt. Gov. Unable to determine who is best and who is viable at this point in the race.
- Committee Motion for State Comptroller was to support David Miller. Motion passed. In a roll call vote, voted for Krishmoorithi.
- Committee Motion was to defer to Central Committee without recommendation. I voted for Danny Davis. No candidate was close to receiving the 50% + 1 vote required.
- Circuit Court Judges were presented immediately prior to Central Committee meeting. Timing allowed no time to personally assess qualifications of these candidates. I will be looking, with a group of 49th Ward Democratic Party members, at the Bar Alliance and the CBA rating and we will at that time determine who is best qualified to sit on the bench. App. Court candidates will also be double checked. The 49th ward does not support unqualified judges.
In respect to the 49th Ward endorsement session, the exact date has not been set, but the first or second Saturdays in December are about the right time to expect the event to be held.
Prior to that you can earn your right to participate, meaning vote in the endorsement session, by doing petitions for your favorite candidate(s) or other political work for the 49th Ward during the period beginning now through the end of November. We have traditionally expected 10 hours of volunteer time in the immediate 12 months preceding the endorsement session to become a member which then qualifies you to vote. Please come get involved.
You can either send an email to info@49thward.com or complete the volunteer form.
