Was the Judge Who Booted Trump off the Illinois Ballot a Traffic Court Judge?

On Wednesday, Judge Tracie Porter of Cook County, Ill., ordered the State Board of Elections to "remove Donald J. Trump from the ballot for the General Primary Election on March 19, 2024, or cause any votes cast for him to be suppressed."

This move follows a broader left-wing initiative that commenced last year, aiming to bar Trump from primary ballots by invoking Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Although the majority of states dismissed these efforts, the Colorado Supreme Court declared Trump ineligible in December. Maine's Secretary of State followed suit soon after. 

What made Porter's ruling particularly unusual was that she made it after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Colorado. Porter not only acknowledged the Supreme Court had heard oral arguments on this matter but also that it is anticipated to issue a ruling settling the issue of Trump's eligibility soon. This was a glaring red flag that Porter, a Democrat, was trying to pander to the left for personal or political gain.

Related: Yeah, Biden Has a Michigan Problem

Now new questions have arisen after social media users began pointing out that Porter is merely a traffic court judge and wondering how she was able to make such a consequential (even if ultimately futile) ruling.

So let's take a look. Her biography on the Cook County Democratic Party website reads:

The Illinois Supreme Court unanimously appointed Judge Tracie Porter as an At-Large Cook County Circuit Court Judge (Countywide). Judge Porter was sworn into office on November 12, 2021. Judge Porter currently sits in the Traffic Division in the Richard J. Daley Center in downtown Chicago, where she presides over minor traffic violations and Class A Misdemeanor matters. Judge Porter is a member of the Illinois Judges Association (IJA), the Illinois Judicial Council (IJC) and the International Association of Women Judges. Judge Porter received Highly Qualified/Recommended and/or Qualified/Recommended Ratings from the Chicago Bar Association and the Alliance of Bar Associations.

The biography is dated April 25, 2022, which means that at that time and likely beyond, she was a traffic court judge. Forbes also reported the following in a write-up on Porter: 

Porter spent four years as a litigation attorney with the Office of the Solicitor in the U.S. Department of Labor in the 1990s before working in private practice and academia; she was appointed to a traffic court position in 2021 and won an election for a full term as judge of the Cook County Circuit Court in 2022.

However, the biography has not been updated since, and there's no reason not to believe that she has remained in the traffic division of the Cook County Circuit. Indeed, a search of the Cook County Court's website found that Porter has recently been mostly handling tax issues. 

According to a schedule dated Sept. 22, 2023, Porter was scheduled to "hear all matters, including, but not limited to, case management/status, tax deed prove-ups, tax objections, name changes, and motions."

So yes, at the very least, you can say that within the past few years, she's been a traffic court judge and has been handling tax issues. And now she's truly made a name for herself in liberal circles.