Iris Martinez

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Iris Martinez
Iris Martinez State Senator.jpg
Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County
Assumed office
December 1, 2020
Preceded byDorothy A. Brown
Member of the Illinois Senate
from the 20th district
In office
January 8, 2003 (2003-Jan-08) – November 2020 (2020-Nov)
Preceded byPeter Roskam (renumbered)
Succeeded byCristina Pacione-Zayas
Personal details
Born (1956-02-25) February 25, 1956 (age 65)
West Town, Chicago, Illinois
Political partyDemocratic
ResidenceChicago, Illinois
Alma materNortheastern Illinois University

Iris Y. Martinez (born February 25, 1956) is an American politician and administrator. In 2020, she was elected Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. She previously served as a member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 20th district since 2003. A member of the Democratic Party, she rose to Assistant Majority Leader in the State Senate. As court clerk and as a state senator, she is the first Latina to have held either of those offices.

Early life[]

Martinez is a graduate of Northeastern Illinois University and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Senate career[]

Senator Martinez was the first Latina woman to be elected to the Illinois State Senate.[2] In her first year in Springfield, Martinez ensured that community agencies like the Children's Place, an agency that works with children and families affected by HIV and AIDS, and Concordia Avondale Community Center, which provides daycare, after-school programs and a center for seniors, received state funding to continue their programming. Martinez was particularly concerned with issues surrounding women's health. She passed legislation that obligates health insurance companies to provide women with contraceptive coverage. In recognition of this legislation, Martinez received the Profile in Courage Award from Planned Parenthood. Martinez targeted Illinois drivers with out of state reckless homicide and DUI convictions with the passage of a new law. This law ensures that convictions received in other states are included in Illinois driving records and subject to state laws regarding further prosecution of these offences. To help protect consumers from becoming victims of identity theft, Martinez helped pass a law that requires all insurance cards be issued without a Social Security number.

In 2004, Martinez was awarded the Hillary Clinton Leadership Award, presented to an elected official by the Illinois Democratic Women's organization. Martinez is the Chairperson of the Pensions Committee and Vice Chairperson of the Housing and Community Affairs Committee. She serves as a member of three additional committees: Commerce, Health and Human Services, and Insurance.

In 2006, Martinez endorsed judicial candidate Ramon Ocasio III over the Cook County Democratic Party endorsed candidate, Ed Lechowicz, the son of former State Senator Ted Lechowicz, saying she did so to increase the number of Latinos on the Cook County judiciary.[3]

In 2008, Martinez faced a primary challenge from state representative Richard T. Bradley, who represented half of her district in the House. Bradley had originally announced his intention to seek re-election to his former seat in the Illinois House but decided instead to challenge Martinez when Deb Mell announced her candidacy for his House seat. Martinez was re-elected, defeating Bradley and another candidate.

In 2018, J.B. Pritzker appointed Martinez to Powering Illinois’ Future transition committee, which is responsible for infrastructure and clean energy policies.[4]

After her election to serve as the Clerk of the Circuit Court, local party leaders appointed Tina Pacione-Zayas to the seat.[5]

2020 Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County election[]

Main article: 2020 Cook County, Illinois elections § Clerk of the Circuit Court

On August 14, 2019, Cook County Circuit Clerk Dorothy A. Brown announced that she would not seek re-election in 2020. Martinez later announced that she would seek the Democratic nomination for Circuit Clerk. Despite not being endorsed by the Cook County Democratic Party, Martinez won the primary with 33.73% of the vote and 50,000 more votes than party-endorsed candidate Michael Cabonargi. In addition to failing to receive the party's endorsement in the primary, she had also failed to receive other notable endorsements. Consequentially, her primary victory was regarded as an upset.[6]

Martinez won the general election and was sworn in on December 1, 2020. She is the first Latina to serve in the position, and the second woman of color to hold the position.[2]

Tenure as Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County[]

Soon after taking office, Martinez complained about the state of the office she inherited from Dorothy A. Brown. In response, Brown released a statement that was highly critical of Martinez.[7]

Electoral history[]

State Senate[]

2002
2002 Illinois State Senate 20th district Democratic Primary[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Iris Y. Martinez 13,839 61.51
Democratic Michael A. Wojcik 8,660 38.49
Total votes 22,499 100
2002 Illinois State Senate 20th district election[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Iris Y. Martinez 26,410 100
Total votes 26,410 100
2004
2004 Illinois State Senate 20th district Democratic Primary[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Iris Y. Martinez (incumbent) 14,164 100
Total votes 14,164 100
2004 Illinois State Senate 20th district election[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Iris Y. Martinez (incumbent) 38,815 100
Total votes 38,815 100
2008
2008 Illinois State Senate 20th district Democratic Primary[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Iris Y. Martinez (incumbent) 13,649 51.25
Democratic Richard T. Bradley 11,128 41.78
Democratic Carlos Juan Guevara 1,857 6.97
Total votes 26,634 100
2008 Illinois State Senate 20th district election[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Iris Y. Martinez (incumbent) 42,310 100
Total votes 42,310 100
2012
2012 Illinois State Senate 20th district Democratic Primary[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Iris Y. Martinez (incumbent) 10,429 100
Total votes 10,429 100
2012 Illinois State Senate 20th district election[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Iris Y. Martinez (incumbent) 47,688 99.85
Write-In Lawrence "Larry" Ligas 73 0.15
Total votes 47,761 100
2016
2016 Illinois State Senate 20th district Democratic Primary[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Iris Y. Martinez (incumbent) 37,221 100
Total votes 37,221 100
2016 Illinois State Senate 20th district election[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Iris Y. Martinez (incumbent) 60,418 100
Total votes 60,418 100
2018
2016 Illinois State Senate 20th district Democratic Primary[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Iris Y. Martinez (incumbent) 19,414 73.36
Democratic Bart Goldberg 7,050 26.64
Total votes 26,464 100
2018 Illinois State Senate 20th district election[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Iris Y. Martinez (incumbent) 55,151 100
Total votes 55,151 100

Clerk of the Cook County Circuit Court[]

2020
2020 Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County Democratic primary[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Iris Y. Martinez 269,578 33.67
Democratic Michael M. Cabonargi 216,180 27.00
Democratic Richard R. Boykin 199,526 24.92
Democratic Jacob Meister 113,855 14.22
Write-in Others 1,511 0.19
Total votes 800,650 100
2020 Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County election[10]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Iris Y. Martinez 1,549,615 73.03
Republican Barbara Bellar 572,169 26.97
Total votes 2,121,784 100

References[]

  1. ^ "Iris Martinez Sworn In As First Latina Cook County Circuit Court Clerk". chicago.cbslocal.com. CBS Chicago. 1 December 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b Struett, David (3 November 2020). "Iris Martinez elected as first Latina Cook County Circuit Court clerk". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  3. ^ "The More Things Change". Chicago Reader. 2006-03-17. External link in |work= (help)
  4. ^ Miller, Rich (November 26, 2018). "Pritzker transition unveils Powering Illinois' Future Committee". Capitol Fax. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
  5. ^ Kapos, Shia (December 22, 2020). "Business of Politics". Politico Illinois Playbook. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  6. ^ Myers, Andrew (28 April 2020). "Iris Martinez upsets Evanston favorite Michael Cabonargi". The Daily Northwestern. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  7. ^ Duarte, Lourdes; Schroedter, Andrew (2020-12-18). "Dorothy Brown to new clerk: 'Stop whining and start managing'". WGN-TV. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Election Results Information". www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Cook County and The City of Chicago Primary Election March 17, 2020 Combined Summary" (PDF). Cook County Clerk. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  10. ^ "Cook County and The City of Chicago General Election November 3, 2020 Combined Summary" (PDF). Cook County Clerk. Retrieved 1 December 2020.

External links[]

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