Former Riverside resident Martin Reggi once again fell short in his bid to become a Cook County Circuit Court judge.
Reggi was beaten soundly in his third try for judge, winning just 25% of the vote against Lucy Vasquez-Gonzalez in the 3rd judicial subcircuit Democratic primary. Reggi had also lost subcircuit races in 2014 and 2018 when he ran in the 4th subcircuit.
After those two losses, Reggi moved to Cicero and the subcircuit boundary lines were redrawn. Now, significant portions of Riverside and Brookfield are within the new boundaries of the 3rd Subcircuit. The 3rd Subcircuit is heavily Hispanic, and about half of it is in the city of Chicago, primarily in the 13th and 23rd wards.
Reggi, 72, is a solo practitioner with a law office in Berwyn. Reggi had better ratings from bar associations than did Vasquez-Gonzalez, but Vasquez-Gonzalez had the support of a number of politicians, including Riverside Township Democratic Committeeman Mike Zalewski, State Senator Mike Porfirio and Cicero Mayor Larry Dominick.
No Republican filed to run in the 3rd Subcircuit, so Vasquez-Gonzalez is almost assured of winning the general election and becoming a judge. Vasquez-Gonzalez, also a solo practitioner, has law offices in Cicero and Wheaton, and concentrates on family law. She dropped out of school, but earned a GED and two associate degrees from Morton College before earning a bachelor’s degree Roosevelt University and a law degree from John Marshall Law School.
Garica wins easily in 4th Congressional District
In the race for Congress in the 4th Congressional District incumbent Jesus “Chuy” Garcia easily fended off a challenge from Chicago Alderman Ray Lopez. Garcia received 69% of the vote compared with 31% for Lopez. Garcia received a little more than 72% of the vote in the suburban portion of the district and just over 66% in the city portion of the district.
Lopez ran as a moderate Democra,t claiming that Garcia was too far to the left on the number of issues including immigration, the war in Gaza and other issues. Those arguments were not persuasive to Garcia voters the Landmark spoke to on Election Day.
Carl Block of Riverside voted for Garcia.
“He’s been around and I don’t know much of the other person,” Block told the Landmark after voting at Village Commons in North Riverside.
Darlene Humay voted for Garcia partially because her grandson knows Garcia’s nephew.
As of now, Garica is a shoo in to win his fourth term in Congress in November because no Republican filed to run in his heavily Democratic district.
Rashid cruises in 21st District primary race
State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid (D-Bridgeview) also faces no Republican opponent in the fall after easily beating back a challenge from retired Chicago police detective Vidal Vasquez in the 21st district. Rashid defeated Vasquez by a two-to-one margin receiving 67% to 33% of the tally for Vasquez.
Block voted for Vasquez.
“I’ve spoken to him personally and he seems like a decent fellow,” Block said.
Terry Humay also voted for Rashid.
“I voted for Rashid because of all the money he spent on the fliers coming to my mailbox for the last month,” Terry Humay said.
Hruska will face Hernandez in November
There will be one contested state representative race in the area in the fall. In the 2nd District Brookfield resident and current RBHS school board member will face an uphill challenge taking on incumbent Elizabeth “Lisa” Hernandez. Both Hruska and Hernandez were unopposed in their respective primaries. But Hernandez received 5,609 votes compared to just 1,509 for Hruska in the heavily Democratic district that includes most of Brookfield north of Shields Ave., the portion of Riverside south of the railroad tracks and runs east to Cicero.