3 GOP candidates for District 2 of Illinois Supreme Court share goals, reasons for running

Maintaining order and adherence to the U.S. Constitution were two points of emphasis for three of the four Republican candidates running in the primary for District 2 of the Illinois Supreme Court on Saturday at a forum that was put on by the McHenry County Republican Party.

Republican candidates in several local, state and national races appeared at the forum.

The three candidates, John Noverini, Daniel Shanes and Susan Hutchinson, all took turns answering questions. Former Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran was not in attendance.

Those questions included the reason they are running, what they hope to accomplish and what their principles were going into the job.

The discussion didn’t reveal many differences in the three judicial candidates.

In fact, at several junctions they openly agreed with each other, especially on the court’s role in maintaining checks and balances, interpretation based on originality of the Illinois and the U.S. constitutions, and opposition to the politicized process and gerrymandering in legislative redistricting.

Hutchinson, a judge on the appellate court for District 2, chose to focus on the limited scope of a judge’s role. She said the job was to interpret what the law says rather than how one feels about it.

“I can’t change your taxes. I can’t lower them,” she said. “The good news is, I can’t raise them either.”

Both Noverini, a trial judge who worked as an attorney, and Shanes, a circuit judge in Lake County, said they agreed with that and also spent some time discussing the specific role of the court.

Both opted to give their thoughts on the size of government and on the importance of a free market economy.

“It is that limited government that is so vital to our rights and responsibilities,” Shanes said.

“It’s simple folks, the bigger the government, the less freedom we have,” Noverini said.

Switching topics, Shanes and Noverini said District 2 is a prime example of a gerrymandered district.

Hutchinson echoed their point: “If you look at a map, you would not believe what you see,” she said.

Noverini, who called himself an “originalist” when it comes to interpreting the constitution, brought up recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, including Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision from 1973 that legalized abortion access nationwide. He said the Democrats have ruled based on politics rather than what is legal.

Roe v. Wade is why conservative judges are needed, he said.

Shanes said his three priorities are upholding the constitution, judicial restraint (meaning not going beyond the powers of the court), and due process (meaning everyone has the law applied to them equally), he said.

“That is the foundation of our constitutional republic,” Shanes said.

The primary is June 28.

The Republican nominee will face the Democratic Party nominee, which will be one of three candidates, Rene Cruz, Elizabeth Rochford or Nancy Rotering.