The following list of offices in the Illinois State Bar Association are to be filled by the 2027 annual election.
- 1 – Office of Third Vice-President (candidate must be from outside Cook County)
- 6 – Seats on the Board of Governors
- 23 – Seats on the Cook County Assembly
Third Vice-President – Outside Cook County – 1 to be elected
No incumbent*
Board of Governors
Cook County – 2 to be elected
Incumbents:
- Daniel Heywood, Chicago
- Mark Lopez, LaGrange **
Area 1 (Circuit 18) – 1 to be elected
Incumbent:
- J. Matthew Pfeiffer, Wheaton***
Area 2 (Circuits 17, 19, and 22) – 1 to be elected
Incumbent:
- Jennifer Luczkowiak, Waukegan
Area 6 (Circuits 7, 8, and 9) – 1 to be elected
Incumbent:
- Ted Niemann, Quincy
Area 8 (Circuits 3, 20, and 24) – 1 to be elected
Incumbent:
- Tom Speedie, Nashville
Assembly
Cook County – 23 to be elected
Incumbents:
- Eric J. Anderson, Chicago***
- Keith D. Barnstein, Chicago
- Sandra Blake, Oak Park***
- Christopher J. Blythe, Chicago
- Edward Burt, Oak Forest
- Kellyn D. Coakley, Chicago
- Christopher B. Cohen, Glencoe
- Khara A. Coleman, Oak Park
- William Davy, Jr., Chicago
- John M. Fitzgerald, Chicago***
- Ava George Stewart, Chicago
- Blake James Kolesa, Chicago
- Ashly McCants, Flossmoor***
- Timothy Moran, Chicago***
- Dina M. Ninfo, Chicago
- Paul G. O’Toole, Chicago***
- Elisabeth Ritter, Chicago***
- Charmaine Antionette Saffore, Chicago
- Nicholas Angelo Sandowski, Chicago
- Yolanda H. Sayre, Chicago
- Gregory T. Smith, Chicago
- Nadine Jean Wichern, Chicago
- Mark E. Wojcik, Chicago***
Nomination
Members who wish to be candidates for office must reside in the proper geographic jurisdiction, meet other requirements for a particular office, and be in good standing with the ISBA at the close of the nominating period.
Voting Address
Bylaws Sec. 1.11 reads: For purposes of voting and candidacy for ISBA elected office, a member’s voting address shall be their primary legal office as designated by the member. If a member’s primary legal office is not within the State of Illinois, such member may designate their Illinois residence as their voting address. If no voting address is designated, the member shall be considered a non-resident member.
Nominating Petitions
The nomination process will continue to be conducted on a virtual basis. (1) nominating petitions will be entirely electronic via the ISBA website; (2) candidates must generate a nominating petition on the ISBA website using the form provided; (3) members will be able to view and “sign” (via electronic assent on the ISBA website) all available nominating petitions for whom they are eligible to sign; and (4) the number of required nominating petition signatures remains the same as set forth in the Policies and Procedures on Association Elections. Nominating petitions will be available for candidate generation on October 1, 2026, on the Petitions page.
Acceptance Period
Nominating petitions can be signed no earlier than October 1, 2026, and no later than 4:30 p.m. on January 8, 2027. At the close of the acceptance period, all ballot positions will be determined by lot amongst all the candidates for the same office.
Voting
All members of the Association in good standing (except non-lawyer members) are eligible to vote for the office of third vice-president. Any eligible member residing in an area in which there are contested Board of Governors and Assembly elections may vote in those races only.
The 2027 Election will be conducted by electronic voting. Paper ballots will be utilized in some instances. Full details of the voting process will be provided to the full active membership well in advance of the formal election.
Important dates to remember:
- October 1, 2026 - Petitions may be created and signed.
- January 4, 2027 – First day to submit bio and create webpage.
- January 8, 2027, at 4:30 PM – Petitions are closed.
- January 31, 2027 – Last day to submit bio and create webpage.
- March 1, 2027 - Member dues must be paid to be eligible to vote in ISBA Elections.
- March 31, 2027 – ballots delivered.
- April 15, 2027 – Last day to request paper ballot.
- April 30, 2027, 4:30 p.m. – voting ends.
- The results of the elections will be announced no later than May 5, 2027.
October 2026
Robert E. Craghead
Executive Director
By policy, a member’s dues must be paid by March 1, 2027, for the period ending June 30, 2027, to be eligible to vote in ISBA Elections.
*Under the bylaws the third vice-president automatically succeeds to the office of second vice-president; therefore, there is no incumbent for this office.
**Ineligible to succeed due to term limitations.
***Eligible to serve one additional year.