⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

Frank DiFranco asks the Seventh Circuit to revive a lawsuit over a 2020 Cook County judicial election. Patricia Fallon was declared the winner. DiFranco alleges that election officials improperly counted mail ballots after the statutory deadline, changing the result. He brought an election contest in state court and a separate federal lawsuit asserting constitutional violations. The federal case was paused while the state case proceeded. After the state challenge failed, the district court dismissed the federal suit under res judicata, or claim preclusion—the rule that a final judgment can bar another suit over the same dispute. DiFranco will argue that Illinois's limited election-contest procedure could not resolve his federal claims and that he reserved those claims for federal court. Fallon's lawyer will contend that the dispute was already litigated and cannot be reopened. The question is whether the state judgment blocks DiFranco's federal claims, despite his attempt to reserve them.

Frank DiFranco v. Henderson Yarbrough (No. 25-2624) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, argued October 1, 2026.