As the current election cycle nears, Windy City Times sat down with Linda Pauel, a Democratic candidate for Cook County Circuit Court Judge.Pauel discussed her outlook on being a good judge, her family and how being an out lesbian affects her candidacy.
Windy City Times: What inspired you to run for office?
Linda Pauel: A few different things. I've been practicing for 18 years now, and I've been before many different courtrooms. After having sat on a selection committee for one of the justices and seeing some of the candidates that came before her and some of the judges on the bench, and the encouragement of my friends, I decided that I should run for judge. I think there's a need to have more qualified judges. I was also inspired by the last election cycle. Obama and Kennedy and everybody else have said, "What are you doing to make the change," and everybody's counting [ on Obama ] or other leaders to make change. If we don't do something ourselves we can't really sit back and complain.
WCT: How does you experience as an attorney relate to the position that you're going up for?
LINDA PAUEL: I think that judges need to have a vast range of experience. I've had an opportunity to work in a variety of different areas. I've practiced before many different courtrooms and I've had the experience in a variety of different areas of law myself.
WCT: What experience as an activist do you have outside of the courtroom?
LINDA PAUEL: My activism really started when I was in college. At the time, our school, Cornell College, had investments in South Africa. We fought to try and divest at the time because they still were an oppressive regime. When I left college I went to New York and worked for the National Organization for Women, and that was at a time when there were these major anti-abortion riots all over the state. I became one of the trained escorts to help women get in [ clinics ] . That kind of moved on to gay rights and marriage equality. There are so many things that need correcting, and you can only do so much. These were the ones that I was very passionate about.
WCT: You were born in Jamaica. When did you come to the States?
LINDA PAUEL: We came to the States in 1979. We came here because Jamaica was going through a violent political and social upheaval at the time. My father is Dutch, and he's Caucasian, and in Jamaica he really stood out at the time. Like many other families we had to pack up and come here. We moved to Houston, Texas at the time. It was a difficult transition from Jamaica to Houston.
WCT: What does your heritage bring to the table?
LINDA PAUEL: I think that my heritage is relevant just because in addition to having people who are legally qualified we need people who are fair minded and who have a bit more perspective on what it's like for everyday people when they come before the courts. [ I am ] of mixed heritage and race: My father's white, my mother's half Black and [ half ] Chinese. By virtue of the fact that my own family is so mixed, I really don't hold any biases or prejudices against people for their ethnicity or where they come from. By virtue of the fact that I'm a lesbian, too, I think I can be fair towards people regardless of their sexual orientation, whether they be straight or gay.
WCT: How do you feel that being a member of the LGBT community will affect your candidacy?
LINDA PAUEL: I don't really think that it has had much affect. Being LGBT is not what qualifies me to be a judge. I am very passionate about telling people that they shouldn't vote for me just because I'm gay. They need to vote for me because I am the most qualified person in my race. Being LGBT just happens to be another aspect of who I am. I have experienced different prejudices that perhaps other people haven't, and that would make me perhaps a little bit more uniquely aware of issues that may come before the court. You have to put aside your personal experiences in life and listen to the facts, but I think there is a certain aspect of compassion that sometimes is lacking in the courtrooms. People need to be treated well. Win or lose, they need to feel like they came in court and were treated right and had an opportunity to have their case heard.
WCT: Do you have any concerns that people from a conservative viewpoint will not vote for you simply because of the fact that you're a lesbian?
LINDA PAUEL: When I decided to run, I decided that I was going to run as an out lesbian. I think this is the first time that we actually have two out lesbians running for judge countywide. It's important to the community to see that we are viable candidates and that we can win despite that fact that people know that we're gay. In this day and age, why would anybody care what my orientation is? It seems so irrelevant to the qualifications.
It's not just judges, we have so many open candidates running this election cycle. Todd Connor is running for water reclamation, Jim Madigan is running for senator. The list goes on. We have candidates in almost every race. There are so many gay candidates running.
WCT: In this election what population do you think will bring you the biggest pool of votes?
LINDA PAUEL: I think that in an election as large as Cook County it's hard to say. In Cook County, we have over five million voters. Of those, 1.2 or 1.3 million are registered. Of the registered voters, only about 600,000 show up to vote in an election. Of those, only half vote for judges. You really just need to go to all the different networks that you have and reach out to all of them. Of course I'll be looking to the gay community for votes. I've been campaigning heavily in the Asian community. The suburbs and the townships bring in a lot of voters. I don't know that there's really one particular group. I have to hit everybody to be successful.
WCT: If you're defeated in this election do you think you will run again?
LINDA PAUEL: [ Laughs ] I'm going to be optimistic and say I won't be defeated. It has been very difficult. I've been campaigning since early in the year and all through the summer. I'm gone from my kids a lot and they miss me. I would really have to wait and see, the next elections will be in two years. I think that I have a good chance in this election. It's really a matter of people getting out and voting.
WCT: Do you have anything else that you'd like to add?
LINDA PAUEL: I think that my message that it's important that people research the judicial candidates and make sure that they vote for the most qualified person in each race and not vote for people based on name recognition.
