Barring a successful appeal by the Illinois attorney general, candidates for a pair of new seats in the 19th Circuit will appear on general election ballots in November.

The primary election winners, Associate Judges Wallace B. Dunn, a member of the ISBA Assembly, and George Bridges were two of the seven plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging legislation signed in February that attempted to eliminate the two additional Lake County judgeships.

On April 14, 7th Circuit Judge Leo J. Zappa of Sangamon County ruled Public Act 94-727 unconstitutional and granted summary judgment to the judges. He had conducted the hearing on March 31 in Springfield.

Two associate judges – Valerie Boettle Ceckowski and Theodore S. Potkonjak – who were defeated by Dunn and Bridges in the primary also were plaintiffs, along with 19th Circuit Associate Judge John T. Phillips, who was unopposed.

Others were McHenry County jurists Michael Chmiel and Gordon E. Graham, who were unopposed in the primary for seats in the new 22nd Circuit that will be established in December.

The judgeships sought by Phillips and Chmiel were not eliminated by the legislation, so they would have been candidates in November regardless of the ruling.

Judge Zappa's decision was based on constitutional violations of the judicial article, separation of powers, special legislation, equal protection and due process.

David A. Erickson, a Cook County associate judge, has conceded his primary election bid for a seat on the 1st District Appellate Court to Joy V. Cunningham.

Results of a partial discovery recount showed a gain in votes for Erickson, from Cunningham's previously certified 494-vote lead, but he decided not to continue the burdensome process of a fuller recount.

Cunningham will be unopposed for election in November to the seat held by Allen Hartman.