Two judges tapped for DuPage bench

Voters gave two DuPage County judges a promotion.

Blanche Hill Fawell and John Kinsella, both associate judges, were the victors Tuesday in two separate races for a full circuit court seat, with all but two of 732 precincts unofficially counted.

Fawell had 54 percent of the vote to her opponent Richard Stock. In the other race, Kinsella was leading with 43 percent of the unofficial vote, compared to Dorothy French with 31 percent and John Demling with 26 percent.

The five Republican judges vied in two separate circuit races. It's a judge who may decide if you get to keep your kids in a custody battle, the price for having a lead foot or your fate in a lawsuit.

Yet, judicial elections, which bestow such powers on a select few, often receive little pre-election fanfare because the candidates are forbidden from taking a public stance on hot-button issues.

That didn't stop these GOP candidates, though, from feverishly campaigning.

Fawell, 52, is a six-year associate judge who previously worked in a successful private practice. She spent five years in the 1980s as a prosecutor.

Her political family name gave her name recognition. She also far outspent her opponent, Stock, but he had an edge when the Illinois Supreme Court appointed him to fill the vacant circuit spot last October.

Stock, 55, also is well known in Illinois' political circles. He is a former 18-year criminal prosecutor in Cook and DuPage who worked as former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan's chief of staff. He went into private practice after Ryan's failed 2002 gubernatorial bid.

In the other judicial race, 52-year-old Kinsella appeared to have defeated opponents Demling and French, both associate judges.

Kinsella, 52, became an associate judge about five years ago after a respected 22-year career as a DuPage County prosecutor, whose duties included trying death penalty murders. He left the office as its former first assistant.

Demling, 56, has the most judicial experience. The 10-year associate judge is the former Glen Ellyn village president. French, 56, was appointed an associate judge seven years ago. Previously, she was a partner at a Lisle law firm handling medical malpractice cases.

Kinsella takes over a seat previously filled by Kenneth Moy, who resigned last year after a controversial decade on the bench. The Illinois Supreme Court last year tapped Kinsella to fill the remainder of Moy's term. The other circuit opening was created when Judge Edward Duncan retired.