Evans ousted by Beach in three-way race for Cook County chief judge

Eight-term Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans was ousted by Judge Charles Beach in a three-way race held Wednesday.

Beach received 144 votes while Evans and Judge Nichole C. Patton received 109 combined votes, according to a press release from the chief judge’s office.

Beach will officially succeed Evans when he starts his three-year term Dec. 1.

Beach serves in the law division currently and has been a judge since 2017 following years as a litigator who brought more than 200 felony and misdemeanor cases to trial.

He began his law career in the Cook County public defender’s office in 1997.

The 82-year-old Evans has been chief judge since 2001 after serving nearly two decades as a Chicago alderman.

The vote among fellow Cook County judges, was held Wednesday at the Daley Center downtown and overseen by Judge Shelley Sutker-Dermer, chair of the Judicial Election Committee. It was the first contested election for chief judge since 2019.