CHICAGO -- After Dorothy Brown’s controversial two-decade reign, Iris Martinez took over the Circuit Court Clerk’s office in 2020. She’s seeking another term, but the County Democrat Party is backing her opponent in the primary.
Democratic incumbent Iris Martinez, Clerk of the Cook County Circuit Court, has drawn a savvy well-finance challenger.
"I’ve got a list of things that are not going right with that office," Mariyana Spyropoulos said.
Spyropoulos, a commissioner on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, plans on pulling no punches.
"She running her current office as a patronage system," Spyropoulos said. "She’s filled it with her friends and family and that’s why they’re trying to hold on so tight to maintain this office when they’re not doing a great job right now."
Martinez, who had a long career in the state legislature before taking over the clerk’s office, defends her record.
"I know me and I know I’m the most honest and transparent person out there and I’ve never had anyone question until now because of the fact that the other side is getting very, very desperate and they’re making up all kinds of lies," Martinez said.
After her office came under fire for a data error that gave felony records to people who should not have them, Martinez recently created a department dedicated to offering assistance for residents looking to expunge certain criminal records.
Martinez also faced questions about a Chicago Tribune investigation that found she received more than $45,000 dollars in campaign contributions from dozens of her government employees, some of whom got raises. She was questioned about it by WGN's analyst Paul Lisnek on ”Political Report."
"We have events. There’s no doubt I have events. We have two events a year where I have a birthday party and anyone comes," Martinez said.
"Do you think they feel pressure, though?" Lisnek said.
"No. They shouldn’t. They don’t feel pressure because 1,400 employees that work there," Martinez said. "I have 100 Shakman positions that belong to me that I bring in people that I’ve known, people that I know who were surrounding me and create – and follow the mission that we were on."
"What about a policy that says I don’t want contributions from people who work for me?" Lisnek asked.
"You know, that’s something that my next term," Martinez replied.
Spyropoulos said beginning on day one, she won’t accept donations from office employees.
As for her platform, Spyropoulos said she’ll push for the county watchdog to take on oversight responsibility for the office and she’ll release information on spending and case statistics.
"The current accountant that works on maintaining the books is at the clerk’s office is the nephew of the current clerk and there’s lots of problems reconciling the books there," Spyropoulos said.
Iris Martinez points out Cook County Democrats did not back her four years ago and she won anyway. She said she’s working hard to do it again.
After our interview, a spokeswoman for Martinez reached out to correct the record. Anibal Negro, the CFO, is not related to Martinez.