Powered by a strong performance in her new hometown, Oak Park, Audrey Cosgrove has narrowly won the Democratic primary race for judge in the 11th Subcircuit.
The subcircuit runs north from Oak Park to include other suburban areas and a chunk of the far northwest side of Chicago.
According to final, uncertified results Cosgrove defeated prosecutor Kim Przekota by the razor thin margin of 338 votes. Cosgrove has 13,468 votes, or 50.6% of ballots cast, to 13,130 for Przekota, who comes in 49.4% of the vote.
Cosgrove, a 59-year-old administrative law judge who began her career as a public defender, moved to Oak Park last May. She received 54.25% of the vote in Oak Park, piling up a 781-vote margin that carried her to victory.
Przekota, 41, a resident of Park Ridge, led on election night and the first few days afterward, but Cosgrove’s edge in mail-in votes proved to be the difference.
“I wish her the best,” Przekota told the Wednesday Journal by text message. “I would like to thank everyone who helped, encouraged, supported and voted for me! I worked hard, learned a lot and met amazing new people. I am disappointed in the final outcome but am not discouraged about the future and I will continue to pursue my dream of becoming a judge.”
Cosgrove is almost assured of winning the November general election and becoming a Cook County Circuit Court judge because no Republican has filed to run in the race.
Many consider Cosgrove’s victory an upset. Cosgrove perhaps had greater name recognition because she ran for judge once before in 2020, when she finished second in a five-candidate field, but Przekota had nearly all the political endorsements in this race. Przekota was the slated candidate and had the support of area politicians, including State Senate President Don Harmon, who is the Democratic Committeeman for Oak Park and the head of the Democratic Party of Oak Park; Franklin Park Mayor and Leyden Township Democratic Committeeman Barrett Pederson; State Senator Laura Murphy; two Chicago aldermen, Chris Taliaferro of the 29th Ward and Jim Gardiner of the 45th Ward; and a host of labor unions. The only notable endorsement Cosgrove had was from IVI-IPO, a progressive group. Cosgrove argued that she had broader experience than Przekota who has spent her entire legal career as a prosecutor. Przekota also raised more money in the race, primarily because of $25,000 in contributions from her parents.
Bar associations gave both candidates uniformly good ratings, with the only difference being that the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois rated Cosgrove as highly recommended and Przekota as recommended.
Cosgrove also ran strongly in the Galewood neighborhood, picking up 68.43% of the vote in the portion of the 29th Ward that is in the subcircuit. Przekota ran strongest in the 41st Ward on the far Northwest side of Chicago, where she received 61.13% of the vote. The 41st Ward is perhaps the most conservative ward in Chicago, and home to many police officers who might prefer a prosecutor over a former public defender.
