With the recent passing of Judge Sandra Otaka in Illinois, the local Asian American community has lost a valuable friend and member.  To make matters worse, just five days after Otaka's passing, the Illinois Supreme Court hastily appointed a replacement, upsetting the community and forcing a group of over thirty AAPI organizations to decry the lack of transparency in the process.

According to the group's press release:

"There are Asian American lawyers qualified to merit consideration for Judge Otaka's vacancy," says Anne I. Shaw, immediate past president of the Asian American Bar Association (AABA). "Given the historic significance of Judge Otaka's election and her stature as a beloved icon for Asian Americans, we had hoped that the Illinois Supreme Court would have exercised some sensitivity to Cook County's Asian American community by giving strong consideration to the prospect of appointing an Asian American, appointing someone with ties to our community or, at least, alerting Asian American community leaders. ”

Asian Americans are the fastest-growing minority group within the legal profession, yet continue to be grossly underrepresented in the judiciary. Otaka championed the effort to increase diversity in the Cook County court system. Her death leaves only six judges of Asian ancestry in the county. However, all six are associate judges -- not full circuit court judges like Otaka.

The local AAPI community in Chicago still lacks proper representation among elected officials.  They came close with the Tammy Duckworth and Naisy Dolar campaigns in 2006, but have not had the breakthrough they so desperately desire.

One possible figure on the horizon is Raja Krashamoorthi, a former Deputy State Treasurer for the state and a close personal friend of President Obama.  Krishnamoorthi, who plans to run for State Comptroller, has set up a website and he's just hired Obama's advisor David Axelrode's former firm to handle his messaging.  We'll definitely be keeping an eye on this race.