Lake circuit court clerk incumbent takes strong lead over opponent
Democratic incumbent Lake County circuit court Clerk Erin Cartwright-Weinstein appeared headed for a third term over Republican challenger Carla Wyckoff.
Unofficial election results available as of late Tuesday showed Cartwright-Weinstein, an attorney elected to the post in 2016, ahead with nearly 56% of the vote to 44% for Wyckoff, who served as Lake County clerk from 2014 to 2018.
Both candidates listed customer service and using technology to improve access to information as top goals. The circuit clerk is the official keeper of records brought to the 19th Judicial Circuit Court.
Cartwright-Weinstein, a Gurnee resident, said the office became more environmentally friendly and efficient during her tenure. She said substantial upgrades in technology have been made and that she'll continue to improve systems to benefit attorneys and members of the public.
Wyckoff, a retired Lake Forest resident and former assistant state’s attorney, charged during the campaign that the office was inefficient and suffering from division and dysfunction “due to a culture of politics and retribution.”
Looking ahead, Cartwright-Weinstein, 51, told the Daily Herald her plans include “increasing the use of artificial intelligence to review electronically filed documents and electronically filed citations. I am also adding staff to assist the public with electronic filing. The office will begin electronically filing criminal cases in the next few months and the public will need additional assistance.”
Wyckoff, 79, argued that “more attention should be paid to customer service” to assist attorneys using the clerk’s office filing and case management systems.
“Although all civil, and many criminal, cases are filed electronically, the system requires direct, manual review before a document (case) is ‘accepted’ and considered officially filed. Attorneys have noted that acceptance sometimes takes longer than reasonable and it is difficult to get copies of filed documents, orders and court dates online,” she said.
Other priorities for Wyckoff were to “establish a merit basis, rather than a political basis like the current circuit court clerk which led to a $2.6 million lawsuit, to make personnel decisions; to focus on providing excellent customer service to litigation parties; to control overall costs to the benefit of taxpayers.”
Cartwright-Weinstein said she “entered into the first union contract and brought my employees to a fair/living wage,” while in office. “Second, I digitized almost all of the documents in the office. The microfilm is being digitized now, and there are only a couple of remaining categories to finish the project.”