Buoyed by a strong showing in Oak Park, villager Jarrett Knox is on his way to becoming a judge. Knox, an assistant state’s attorney who works on child protection cases, defeated Elmwood Park resident John Carrozza in a race in the 11th judicial subcircuit in the March 17 Democratic. Knox received 61 percent of the vote to 39 percent for Carrozza. Knox received 20,134 votes while Carrozza, who has a small general law practice that focuses on criminal defense work, received 12,841 votes.
Knox received 73.58% of the vote in Oak Park which was the big difference in the race. Knox received 10,140 votes in Oak Park, slightly more than half of the votes he received in the entire subcircuit which runs north from Oak Park to Norwood Park and parts of the far northwest side of Chicago.
“This community pays attention, this community cares deeply about the democratic process and even these judicial races that sometimes get overlooked,” Knox said. “There was a lot of attention and I’m extremely grateful for that. I’m also, of course, very grateful for the support of President Harmon and the Democratic Party of Oak Park as well as Vicki Scaman. Just the way that Oak Park really rallied around this campaign and around me and the support that they gave.”
Knox, 44, has no opponent on the November general election ballot as the Republican Party did not field a candidate in the primary. Knox is expected to be sworn in on Dec. 7.
“Congratulations to Jarrett. I thought he ran a great race,” Carrozza said after the election. “I think he’s going to make a great judge.”
About his performance in Oak Park Carrozza said, “I did campaign very hard in Oak Park and I knew Oak Park was going to be a high voter turnout. I did my best there; I have absolutely no regrets. In fact I thought it was an absolute fantastic experience, the people that I met, the people that I was able to connect with along the way was just absolutely fantastic.”
Knox was supported by State Senate President Don Harmon who is also the Democratic Party Committeeman for Oak Park. Harmon-Knox signs sprouted up on lawns in Oak Park prior to the election.
Knox was also supported by other Democratic politicians such as Oak Park Village President Vicki Scaman, Franklin Park Mayor and Leyden Township Democratic Committeeman Barrett Pedersen, State Senator and 38th ward Democratic Committeeman Robert Martwick, Frank Avino, the Democratic committeeman for Norwood Park Township and the Democratic committeemen from 41st and 45th wards.