Justice Mark Boie has won the Republican primary for a permanent seat at the Fifth District Appellate Court.
With all but one election authority reporting in a district of 37 southern Illinois counties, Boie has won the nomination by a margin of 54 to 46 percent.
According to the Illinois Civil Justice League, which tallied votes in contested judicial races across the state, Boie has so far received 51,123 votes to Swansea attorney Katherine Ruocco's 42,897.
"I am extremely thankful the citizens of Southern Illinois have put their faith in me to represent them as their Republican nominee for the Fifth District Appellate Court," Boie said in a statement.
"I want to thank my family and friends for all their support throughout this primary campaign. I could not have done this without them and cannot properly express what that means to me. I appreciate my opponent’s kind words of encouragement and hope to unite our conservative supporters as we move towards the November election."
Boie, of Anna, in Union County, will face Madison County Circuit Judge Sarah Smith in the November General Election.
Smith ran unopposed in Tuesday's Democratic primary.
Boie currently sits by assignment at the Fifth District Appellate Court, on the recommendation of Justice Lloyd Karmeier. He was chosen to fill the temporary seat that Justice David Overstreet held after his election in 2018 to a permanent seat on the Fifth District.
On Tuesday, Overstreet also won his primary race against Justice John Barberis for Illinois Supreme Court - the seat being vacated by the retiring Karmeier.
Boie and Smith are seeking to fill a vacancy created upon the retirement of Fifth District appellate justice Melissa Chapman. After she left office in October, Karmeier appointed former St. Clair County circuit judge Milton Wharton to fill the seat until the general election is decided.
Boie was first elected to the bench in 2000 as resident circuit judge in Union County and was retained by voters in 2006, 2012 and 2018. Prior to serving on the bench, Boie practiced law at the Law Offices of Wesley L. Boie and Mark M. Boie and served as conflict public defender in Union, Johnson and Pulaski counties.
He earned his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Mississippi in 1989 and his juris doctor from the John Marshall Law School in 1996.