Illinois
#Illinois#
##Justices##
- Chief Justice Thomas Fitzgerald – Chief Justice since 2008. Term expires 2010 (D)
- Justice Charles Freeman – Former Chief Justice. Term expires 2010 (D)
- Justice Robert Thomas – Former Chief Justice. Term expires 2010 (R)
- Justice Thomas Kilbride – Term expires 2010 (D)
- Justice Rita Garman – Term expires 2012 (R)
- Justice Lloyd Karmeier – Term expires 2014 (R)
- Justice Anne Burke – First appointed 2006. Elected full term 2008. Only Justice to face election. Term expires 2018 (D)
##About the court##
The Illinois Supreme Court is partisan with a Democratic majority (4-3). Illinois justices do not stand for typical re-election. Instead, at the end of their 10-year term, they must survive a retention election wherein they must garner 60% of the vote. Very often guarantees that Justices in Illinois serve until they choose to retire.
Terms are 10 years. The next election cycle is 2010.
While the majority of Illinois Supreme Court candidates running for retention election are not highly contested, the vulnerable candidates are. In 2004, for example, political party and special interest groups set a state record, raising in excess of $4.5 million to support their candidates. With regard to the 2010 elections, Illinois’ Justice Thomas Kilbride, who represents a traditionally Republican district, is considered threatened and the Democratic party and progressive groups are preparing for an expensive campaign to keep him in office.