John Anderson’s 25 Guilty Pleas & Convictions Raise Concerns in Key Race
CHICAGO — According to records obtained from courthouses across Illinois, Third District Appellate Court candidate John Anderson has been convicted or pled guilty 25 times amid 33 run-ins with law enforcement.
Anderson has been brought before the law on numerous charges, including retail theft, reckless driving, transportation of open alcohol in a vehicle, driving on a suspended license, over twenty excessive speeding charges, and driving with expired plates and no insurance.
“The Third District Appellate Court and the millions of people in Northeastern Illinois deserve a leader like Judge Kenton Skarin who leads with integrity and works hard for the people he serves. We cannot allow a career criminal like John Anderson to serve and in November, Illinois can elect a leader who follows our laws instead of breaking them,” ILGOP Kathy Salvi said in a statement.
This November, Illinois voters have a choice between Kenton Skarin, a judge who was first in his class at Northwestern Law and is committed to faster, smarter, fairer courts, and John Anderson, a criminal who has dozens of run-ins with law enforcement.
Check out a new Ad, “Reckless John,” and review judicial records from Anderson’s cases here.
Eleven of those “33 run-ins with law enforcement” were for driving 15-20 MPH over the speed limit. But still. Whew.
For months, I have generally tried to avoid talking about my opponent, Kenton Skarin. Rather, I try to talk about me and my own credentials. But, he has repeatedly revealed himself to act not as a judge, but as a petty and childish politician. When we were seated at the same table for an event, he got up and moved. When I politely said hello to him at a different event in DuPage County, he told me I should go back to Will County. When I was asked to speak for 15 seconds at a recent event, he audibly booed me and got out his phone to record me.
Now, he made a website about me emphasizing traffic-related offenses that are, for the most part, from my high school and college years. Some of it goes back 35 years. His website shows I have had one traffic ticket in approximately 14 years, and that was 5 years ago.
In the last two years, I have made no secret that I was once an angry, rudderless young man. I had bad grades, I was even homeless and lived on my friend’s couch in a cockroach-infested apartment in Joliet. I turned my life around after a member of my family was murdered in an act of gun violence. These experiences taught me empathy, integrity, and the value of hard work.
Now, I have two master’s degrees and two law degrees. I like to volunteer at homeless shelters and food drives. I enjoy speaking to high school students who are on the verge of not graduating, and I make sure they know there are community college opportunities out there for them. My biggest passion in the law is making our court system more user friendly for those who cannot afford a lawyer; I helped raise $40 million for organizations that provide free legal aid to those who cannot afford an attorney. And, I am supported by law enforcement and was even named “Judicial Officer of the Year” by the Illinois State Crime Commission.
I won’t defend choices I made when I was 20 years old. I can’t—in part because I don’t even remember them. But I believe redemption is a powerful thing that ought to be celebrated, not attacked. If Kenton doesn’t understand that, and chooses to judge 53-year-old people on the worst mistakes they made in high school and college, he is not fit to be a judge. He knows he will lose to 53-year-old Judge Anderson, and so instead he wants to run against 20-year-old John Anderson. So, go ahead, Kenton. Keep doing what politicians do. I will continue to conduct myself like a judge … the ONLY judge in this race to receive a “HIGHLY RECOMMENDED” rating from the Illinois State Bar Association.
Will County is somehow continuously providing candidates for larger area offices, and local, which I have to leave blank on my ballot.
Repeatedly.
These issues aren’t even the reason I made my decision on this race months ago. There are other specific local reasons involving current cases which have informed that decision. But I’m not publicly giving anyone any more specific oppo, which they will probably eventually find on their own.
=reckless driving, transportation of open alcohol in a vehicle, driving on a suspended license, over twenty excessive speeding charges, and driving with expired plates and no insurance=
Respectfully, I disagree. Ours is not a race to the bottom. If we as democrats hold criminal behavior to be disqualifying, then we must hold ourselves to our own standards too. If a democrat candidate is a career criminal, and republicans point that out, we should agree that the candidate is disqualified. Alternatively, republicans have every right to hold us accountable, and should also hold themselves accountable to those same standards the raise against us.
When did all of the offenses happen? Do they say that? Were they 2 years ago? 10 year ago? 20 years ago? I guess folks don’t think people can mature and change.
=Illinois can elect a leader who follows our laws instead of breaking them,”=
“America can elect a leader who follows our laws instead of breaking them,”
Fixed it for ya ILGOP. @Donnie ELgin, wouldn’t you agree?
=Ours is not a race to the bottom. If we as democrats hold criminal behavior to be disqualifying, then we must hold ourselves to our own standards too.=
Agreed, my only change would be to delete “Democrats” and just leave it as we need to follow the same standard. Speaking as an independent.
Anecdotal. But yes, he seems like a good judge. Until he isn’t.
I doubt this will be the last attack ad against him. I imagine the later ones will contain much more recent decisions he’s made. Which means this ad is just setting the table for an eventual theme of poor decision making up to the present day. At least that’s how I’d run such an opposition campaign.
The link is to a Supreme Court race that had millions spent on it. The appellate race the same cycle that didn’t have that investment went much more poorly. None of the current appellate candidates in the 3rd are spending a pittance of what MKO spent and those non Dupage and Will counties are incredibly unfriendly territory for Anderson and the other appellate candidates.
To say that the Dems are in trouble in the 3rd is a dramatic understatement. The saving grace for them might be Dem excitement in the face of the top of the ticket changing, but I wouldn’t be counting any chickens hatched or not.
It’s a political hit and as someone famous around here said voters don’t do nuance.
That said, in the interest of the facts, 24 of those cases are from 20 or more years ago. Six have been in the last 10 years, of which five were from 2010 and before.
His last traffic ticket was five years ago.
Whoever that guy was at a younger age, he looks like someone who finally got himself on the right path.
Probably the kind of life experience that would make for a good judge.
The ILGOP says nothing on when the offenses happened. A sitting Judge would be suspended if this many offenses happened while on the Bench. One can mend the ways of one’s youth.
As a Democrat, this is a pretty damn good ad. The only thing lacking is contrast–you can’t smear your opponent without highlighting how you are better than they are. “Competent, has integrity, and works hard” aren’t specific, measurable examples of superiority over Anderson.
But in a district that is competitive, swing voters don’t like voting for hypocrites. Then again, downballot voters might render the GOP’s efforts null and void anyway.
For months, I have generally tried to avoid talking about my opponent, Kenton Skarin. Rather, I try to talk about me and my own credentials. But, he has repeatedly revealed himself to act not as a judge, but as a petty and childish politician. When we were seated at the same table for an event, he got up and moved. When I politely said hello to him at a different event in DuPage County, he told me I should go back to Will County. When I was asked to speak for 15 seconds at a recent event, he audibly booed me and got out his phone to record me. Now, he made a website about me emphasizing traffic-related offenses that are, for the most part, from my high school and college years. Some of it goes back 35 years. His website shows I have had one traffic ticket in approximately 14 years, and that was 5 years ago.
In the last two years, I have made no secret that I was once an angry, rudderless young man. I had bad grades, I was even homeless and lived on my friend’s couch in a cockroach-infested apartment in Joliet. I turned my life around after a member of my family was murdered in an act of gun violence.
These experiences taught me empathy, integrity, and the value of hard work. Now, I have two master’s degrees and two law degrees. I like to volunteer at homeless shelters and food drives. I enjoy speaking to high school students who are on the verge of not graduating, and I make sure they know there are community college opportunities out there for them. My biggest passion in the law is making our court system more user friendly for those who cannot afford a lawyer; I helped raise $40 million for organizations that provide free legal aid to those who cannot afford an attorney. And, I am supported by law enforcement and was even named “Judicial Officer of the Year” by the Illinois State Crime Commission.
I won’t defend choices I made when I was 20 years old. I can’t—in part because I don’t even remember them. But I believe redemption is a powerful thing that ought to be celebrated, not attacked. If Kenton doesn’t understand that, and chooses to judge 53-year-old people on the worst mistakes they made in high school and college, he is not fit to be a judge. He knows he will lose to 53-year-old Judge Anderson, and so instead he wants to run against 20-year-old John Anderson.
So, go ahead, Kenton. Keep doing what politicians do. I will continue to conduct myself like a judge … the ONLY judge in this race to receive a “HIGHLY RECOMMENDED” rating from the Illinois State Bar Association. Of course, if you keep it up, maybe I will need to @highlight a few things about you as well.
Check out www.JudgeJohnAnderson.com for videos and more information about my past, present, and future.
=This is the best this guy can come up with?=. Not sure of it matters. Voters are going to hear 33 run-ins and 25 guilty pleas/convictions. If you’re explaining you’re losing.
This will sting if it has any money behind it. It won’t leave much of a bruise if it’s just an internet ad that will be shared.
I haven’t seen or heard much of the 3rd District Appellate race.
Sometimes, angry young people do turn their lives around. There is one well regarded Cook County Judge who was a juvenile delinquent throughout high school. He was spared a prison sentence (for joyriding in a stolen police car) when he was given the opportunity to enlist in the Marines.
Although he never graduated from high school, he earned a G.E.D. and eventually became an attorney and a judge.
So, I suppose two questions to ask openly are (a) would we want judges who would granted such a sort of “Second Chance Offender” opportunity at the end of the college years?, and second - what was that one offense in the past 14 years?
Fourteen years with one offense is worthy of a second consideration to me. Do for others what I would want done for me, right?
- Sox Fan - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 12:06 pm:
The GOP has no right to lecture anyone on electing leaders who “follows our laws instead of breaking them”
- TheInvisibleMan - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 12:08 pm:
Generally I vote D in elections.
Will County is somehow continuously providing candidates for larger area offices, and local, which I have to leave blank on my ballot.
Repeatedly.
These issues aren’t even the reason I made my decision on this race months ago. There are other specific local reasons involving current cases which have informed that decision. But I’m not publicly giving anyone any more specific oppo, which they will probably eventually find on their own.
- Donnie Elgin - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 12:11 pm:
=reckless driving, transportation of open alcohol in a vehicle, driving on a suspended license, over twenty excessive speeding charges, and driving with expired plates and no insurance=
This guy must be a real treat on the roads
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 12:13 pm:
Reckless John sounds like a Handsome Family song title. No mention of when he picked up the convictions.
- Gravitas - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 12:16 pm:
So many traffic tickets. . .
Nonetheless, the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission apparently had no problem in terms of issuing Anderson his law license in 1999.
Still not a good look for a candidate.
- H-W - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 12:18 pm:
@ Sox Fan
Respectfully, I disagree. Ours is not a race to the bottom. If we as democrats hold criminal behavior to be disqualifying, then we must hold ourselves to our own standards too. If a democrat candidate is a career criminal, and republicans point that out, we should agree that the candidate is disqualified. Alternatively, republicans have every right to hold us accountable, and should also hold themselves accountable to those same standards the raise against us.
- Sox Fan - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 12:28 pm:
H-W
You’re right. However, I think it’s fair game to point out the hypocrisy of the messenger
- Jimmy Pinkstaff - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 12:28 pm:
Sounds like he has a good background and will get along well with the other lushes on the bench based upon my experience.
- Momniscent - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 12:50 pm:
When did all of the offenses happen? Do they say that? Were they 2 years ago? 10 year ago? 20 years ago? I guess folks don’t think people can mature and change.
- JS Mill - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 12:51 pm:
=Illinois can elect a leader who follows our laws instead of breaking them,”=
“America can elect a leader who follows our laws instead of breaking them,”
Fixed it for ya ILGOP. @Donnie ELgin, wouldn’t you agree?
=Ours is not a race to the bottom. If we as democrats hold criminal behavior to be disqualifying, then we must hold ourselves to our own standards too.=
Agreed, my only change would be to delete “Democrats” and just leave it as we need to follow the same standard. Speaking as an independent.
- ThePAMan - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 12:55 pm:
I have actually litigated a case before Judge Anderson (that wound up settling) in Will County. Seemed like a good judge to me.
- TheInvisibleMan - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 1:18 pm:
–Seemed like a good judge to me.–
Anecdotal. But yes, he seems like a good judge. Until he isn’t.
I doubt this will be the last attack ad against him. I imagine the later ones will contain much more recent decisions he’s made. Which means this ad is just setting the table for an eventual theme of poor decision making up to the present day. At least that’s how I’d run such an opposition campaign.
But, I’m just a dog on the internet.
- Whichever Party. - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 1:22 pm:
This guy does not belong on bench.
- VK - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 1:31 pm:
==The Third District leans slightly Democratic.==
The link is to a Supreme Court race that had millions spent on it. The appellate race the same cycle that didn’t have that investment went much more poorly. None of the current appellate candidates in the 3rd are spending a pittance of what MKO spent and those non Dupage and Will counties are incredibly unfriendly territory for Anderson and the other appellate candidates.
To say that the Dems are in trouble in the 3rd is a dramatic understatement. The saving grace for them might be Dem excitement in the face of the top of the ticket changing, but I wouldn’t be counting any chickens hatched or not.
- Moe Berg - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 2:06 pm:
It’s a political hit and as someone famous around here said voters don’t do nuance.
That said, in the interest of the facts, 24 of those cases are from 20 or more years ago. Six have been in the last 10 years, of which five were from 2010 and before.
His last traffic ticket was five years ago.
Whoever that guy was at a younger age, he looks like someone who finally got himself on the right path.
Probably the kind of life experience that would make for a good judge.
- Ares - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 2:14 pm:
The ILGOP says nothing on when the offenses happened. A sitting Judge would be suspended if this many offenses happened while on the Bench. One can mend the ways of one’s youth.
- Lakeview Looker - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 2:17 pm:
As a Democrat, this is a pretty damn good ad. The only thing lacking is contrast–you can’t smear your opponent without highlighting how you are better than they are. “Competent, has integrity, and works hard” aren’t specific, measurable examples of superiority over Anderson.
But in a district that is competitive, swing voters don’t like voting for hypocrites. Then again, downballot voters might render the GOP’s efforts null and void anyway.
- Excitable Boy - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 2:21 pm:
There’s nothing better than hands on experience to prepare someone for the courtroom.
- Black cat - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 3:24 pm:
So it looks like Anderson has had one ticket in the last 14 years, and that was 5 years ago. This is the best this guy can come up with?
- JS Mill - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 3:25 pm:
=Governor Walz will drink to this
He likes fast cars and ….=
And that has what to do with literally anything?
Try facebook or truth social, seems like more fertile ground for blathering that has nothing to do with anything.
- Black cat - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 3:26 pm:
This stuff is old. 20-35 years ago, most of it.
- The black cat - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 3:32 pm:
From Anderson’s social media:
For months, I have generally tried to avoid talking about my opponent, Kenton Skarin. Rather, I try to talk about me and my own credentials. But, he has repeatedly revealed himself to act not as a judge, but as a petty and childish politician. When we were seated at the same table for an event, he got up and moved. When I politely said hello to him at a different event in DuPage County, he told me I should go back to Will County. When I was asked to speak for 15 seconds at a recent event, he audibly booed me and got out his phone to record me. Now, he made a website about me emphasizing traffic-related offenses that are, for the most part, from my high school and college years. Some of it goes back 35 years. His website shows I have had one traffic ticket in approximately 14 years, and that was 5 years ago.
In the last two years, I have made no secret that I was once an angry, rudderless young man. I had bad grades, I was even homeless and lived on my friend’s couch in a cockroach-infested apartment in Joliet. I turned my life around after a member of my family was murdered in an act of gun violence.
These experiences taught me empathy, integrity, and the value of hard work. Now, I have two master’s degrees and two law degrees. I like to volunteer at homeless shelters and food drives. I enjoy speaking to high school students who are on the verge of not graduating, and I make sure they know there are community college opportunities out there for them. My biggest passion in the law is making our court system more user friendly for those who cannot afford a lawyer; I helped raise $40 million for organizations that provide free legal aid to those who cannot afford an attorney. And, I am supported by law enforcement and was even named “Judicial Officer of the Year” by the Illinois State Crime Commission.
I won’t defend choices I made when I was 20 years old. I can’t—in part because I don’t even remember them. But I believe redemption is a powerful thing that ought to be celebrated, not attacked. If Kenton doesn’t understand that, and chooses to judge 53-year-old people on the worst mistakes they made in high school and college, he is not fit to be a judge. He knows he will lose to 53-year-old Judge Anderson, and so instead he wants to run against 20-year-old John Anderson.
So, go ahead, Kenton. Keep doing what politicians do. I will continue to conduct myself like a judge … the ONLY judge in this race to receive a “HIGHLY RECOMMENDED” rating from the Illinois State Bar Association. Of course, if you keep it up, maybe I will need to @highlight a few things about you as well.
Check out www.JudgeJohnAnderson.com for videos and more information about my past, present, and future.
Judge John Anderson
- Pundent - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 4:17 pm:
=This is the best this guy can come up with?=. Not sure of it matters. Voters are going to hear 33 run-ins and 25 guilty pleas/convictions. If you’re explaining you’re losing.
- Frida's boss - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 5:28 pm:
This will sting if it has any money behind it. It won’t leave much of a bruise if it’s just an internet ad that will be shared.
I haven’t seen or heard much of the 3rd District Appellate race.
- Gravitas - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 6:09 pm:
Sometimes, angry young people do turn their lives around. There is one well regarded Cook County Judge who was a juvenile delinquent throughout high school. He was spared a prison sentence (for joyriding in a stolen police car) when he was given the opportunity to enlist in the Marines.
Although he never graduated from high school, he earned a G.E.D. and eventually became an attorney and a judge.
- H-W - Thursday, Sep 19, 24 @ 6:16 pm:
@ Black Cat
Interesting in formation therein.
So, I suppose two questions to ask openly are (a) would we want judges who would granted such a sort of “Second Chance Offender” opportunity at the end of the college years?, and second - what was that one offense in the past 14 years?
Fourteen years with one offense is worthy of a second consideration to me. Do for others what I would want done for me, right?