Mariyana Spyropoulos tops incumbent Iris Martinez in primary for Cook County Circuit Court clerk
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Former Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board President Mariyana Spyropoulos defeated incumbent Iris Martinez in the primary for Cook County Circuit Court Clerk on Tuesday.
Spyropoulos, who was elected to the MWRD Board in 2010 and served as its president from 2015 until 2019, mounted a campaign for Circuit Court Clerk focused on fighting corruption and misconduct, digitizing systems and cutting, costs, and bringing court sin into communities.
In her victory speech, Spyropoulos said the office in the past has not taken seriously enough even by those who have held it – and it is time for that to change.
"The Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court does not attract intense news coverage – despite what you see here tonight. It doesn't attract Super PAC support, or thousands of online donors. For years, aspirants to this office viewed it as a steppingstone to higher office, or as a ripe opportunity to build a patronage army," Spyropoulos said to a packed room with the news media all present. "It's not easy to convince volunteers and donors that this office matters to them. I'm here to tell you that it does matter. It matters to defendants, victims, attorneys, public defenders, prosecutors – all of whom have a vested interest in seeing our system run effectively."
On her campaign website, Spyropoulos charged that the Circuit Court Clerk's office has "failed to modernize and operate in a transparent manner."
The Circuit Court Clerk is responsible for maintaining all Cook County court records, and collecting court fees and fines. The clerk works with more than 400 judges on cases that originate in Chicago and suburban Cook County.
Martinez was elected to the post in 2020, replacing longtime Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown.
Martinez had previously served as an Illinois state senator since 2003.
Among the accomplishments on which she had run for reelection were technology innovations, and the restoration of public trust – in particularly by promoting transparency and helping address federal monitoring concerns from Brown's time in office.
