Cook County Circuit Judge Mary Catherine Marubio faces a retention vote in the Illinois General Election.

Marubio presides over the Second Municipal District at the Skokie Courthouse. She also serves as deputy chief judge of the First Appearance Court, according to the Circuit Court of Cook County. The retention question on the ballot is nonpartisan. Voters will choose "yes" or "no" on whether to retain her.

No opponent appears on the ballot.

Candidate information

  • Office sought: Illinois Circuit Court Judge, Cook County Circuit (retention)
  • Election date: Nov. 3, 2026
  • Party: Nonpartisan
  • Education: Bachelor of arts, DePaul University; bachelor's, American University; juris doctor, DePaul University

Experience and public service

Marubio joined the Cook County Circuit Court as an associate judge in 2016. She was first assigned to the First Municipal and Domestic Relations Division, according to a Circuit Court biography published in January 2026.

Before joining the bench, she spent 15 years in private practice concentrating in state and federal criminal defense and consular law, according to her DePaul University faculty profile. She also served as an administrative law judge and ethics officer at the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. She held the title of bureau prosecutions chief at the same agency.

On the Circuit Court, Marubio was an original member of the Pretrial Division when it was created in 2017. She became supervising judge of that division in 2021. As presiding judge, she was instrumental in facilitating the Pretrial Fairness Act, part of the SAFE-T Act. That law ended the use of money as a condition of pretrial release in Illinois in 2023, according to the Circuit Court biography.

She holds two roles: deputy chief judge of the First Appearance Court and presiding judge of the Second Municipal District at the Skokie Courthouse.

Marubio also teaches as an adjunct professor of law at DePaul University College of Law.

Professional memberships

Marubio serves on the Illinois Judicial Ethics Committee. The committee is a joint effort of the Illinois Judges Association, the Illinois State Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association. It answers judges' ethics questions and publishes advisory opinions, according to her DePaul faculty profile.

She is a past president of the Alliance of Illinois Judges, an LGBTQ+ and ally judges organization. She has served as a board member of the Illinois Judges Association and the Illinois Judges Foundation.

Her bar memberships include the International Association of LGBTQ+ Judges, the Chicago Bar Association, the North Suburban Bar Association, the Decalogue Society of Lawyers and LAGBAC, Chicago's LGBTQ+ bar association.

The candidate profile above is based on publicly available records and reviewed source material. No candidate questionnaire responses were available for this profile.