President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners

President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners
since December 6, 2010
Term length4 years

The President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners is the chief executive of county government in Cook County, Illinois.[1] They are the head of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. The president is chosen in a county-wide general election for a 4-year term, without term limits, at the same time that the county elects single-district board members.

Office description

Duties of the President include presenting a balanced budget to the Board for approval, as well as overseeing County Board meetings and the Bureaus of Offices Under the President. This grants them the ability to veto or approve ordinances and resolutions, as well as the ability to appoint certain employees to the Cook County administration, though they may need the consent of the Board to do so.

Additionally, the President must present an annual report to the Board on county affairs and its finances, which would require reports and an examination of Cook County administrative units, as well as their properties. The President is also able to enter into intergovernmental agreements as well as agreements with the private sector with the consent and advice of the Board.[1]

While the 1970 state constitution of Illinois permits all counties to directly-elect their chief executive, Cook County is the only county in Illinois that does so.[2] Under the constitution, any county that directly elects its chief executive is a home rule county. Because Cook County already elected its county president, when the constitution went into effect it was the only county that automatically became a home rule county (by virtue of having a directly-elected chief executive.[3]

Officeholders

President[4][5][note 1] Term start Term end Terms Years Party
Henry B. Miller[5] 1872 1873 2
S. Ashton[5] 1873 1874 1
William R. Burdick[5] 1874 1875 1
A. B. Johnson[5] 1875 1876 1
Charles C. P. Holden[5] 1876 1877 1 Republican[6]
Henry Senne[5] December 1877 December 1879 2
John Wesley Stewart[5] December 1879 December 1880 1 Republican
D. B. Purington[5] 1880 1881 1
D. W. Clark[5] 1881 1882 1
Adam Ochs[5] 1882 1883 Democratic
Joseph Donnersberger 1883 1884 1 Democratic
Henry Senne 1884 1885 1
George C. Klehm 1885 1887 2 Republican
J. Frank Aldrich 1887 1887 Republican
Henry C. Senne 1887 1889 Republican[7]
George Edmanson 1889 1890 1
Robert J. Smith 1890 1891 1
John M. Green 1891 1892 1
George Edmanson 1892 1893 1
George Struckman 1893 1894 1
Daniel D. Healy 1894 1898 4
James C. Irwin 1898 1900 2
John J. Hanberg 1900 1902 2
Henry G. Foreman 1902 1904 2 Republican[8]
Edward J. Brundage 1904 1907 3 Republican[9]
William Busse 1907 1910 3 Republican[10]
Peter Bartzen 1910 1912 2 Democratic[11]
Alexander A. McCormick 1912 1914 2 Progressive[12]
Peter Reinberg 1914 1921 7 Democratic[12]
Daniel Ryan Sr. 1921 1922 1 Democratic
Anton Cermak 1922 1931 8¼ Democratic
Emmett Whealan 1931 1934 3 Democratic[13]
Clayton F. Smith 1934 1946 12 Democratic[14]
William N. Erickson 1946 1954 Republican[15]
Dan Ryan Jr. 1954 1961 7¼ Democratic
John J. Duffy 1961 1962 ¾ Democratic[16]
Seymour Simon 1962 1966 1 4 Democratic[17]
Richard B. Ogilvie 1966 January 1969 ¾ 3 Republican
George Dunne January 1969 December 1990 5¼ 21 Democratic
Richard Phelan December 1990 December 1994 1 4 Democratic
John Stroger December 5, 1994 August 1, 2006 2+7⁄8 11+1⁄2 Democratic
Bobbie L. Steele August 1, 2006 December 4, 2006 1⁄8 1⁄2 Democratic
Todd Stroger December 4, 2006 December 6, 2010 1 4 Democratic
Toni Preckwinkle December 6, 2010 4* 13* Democratic

Recent election results

President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners general elections
Year Winning candidate Party Vote (pct) Opponent Party Vote (pct) Opponent Party Vote (pct) Opponent Party Vote (pct)
1986[18] George Dunne Democratic 808,126 (60.61%) Joseph D. Matthewson Republican 525,288 (39.39%)
1990[19] Richard J. Phelan Democratic 714,638 (55.65%) Aldo DeAngelis Republican 405,771 (31.60%) Barbara J. Norman Harold Washington Party 163,817 (12.76%)
1994 John H. Stroger, Jr. Democratic Joe Morris Republican Aloysius Majerczyk Harold Washington Party Jerome Carter Populist
1998[20] John H. Stroger, Jr. Democratic 834,972 (63.49%) Aurelia Marie Pucinski Republican 480,191 (36.61%)
2002[21][22] John H. Stroger, Jr. Democratic 901,679 (68.73%) Christopher A. Bullock Republican 410,155 (31.27%)
2006[23] Todd H. Stroger Democratic 690,945 (53.68%) Tony Peraica Republican 596,212 (46.32%)
2010[24] Toni Preckwinkle Democratic 939,056 (69.54%) Roger A. Keats Republican 357,070 (26.44%) Thomas Tresser Green 54,273 (4.02%)
2014[25] Toni Preckwinkle Democratic 1,072,886 (100%)
2018[26] Toni Preckwinkle Democratic 1,355,407 (96.11%) Others Write-ins 54,917 (3.89%)
2022[27] Toni Preckwinkle Democratic 967,062 (68.54%) Bob Fioretti Republican 399,339 (28.30%) Thea Tsatsos Libertarian 44,615 (3.16%)

Notes

  1. ^ The History of Cook County (1884) and contemporaneous newspapers describe the position as "chairman" in the 1870s, and it was elected by the members of the county board (rather than by the voters of the county) until at least 1880. Around 1881, descriptions of the office as "president" began to be published. By (at latest) the county's November 1887 election, it became a county-wide popularly-elected office.

References

  1. ^ a b "Office of the President | CookCountyIL.gov". www.cookcountyil.gov. Government of Cook County. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  2. ^ "Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) System Illinois State Archives". Illinois Secretary of State. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
  3. ^ Kopecky, Frank; Harris, Mary Sherman (2001). "Understanding the Illinois Constitution 2001 Edition" (PDF). Illinois Bar Association. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
  4. ^ "Cook County, Illinois - Secretary of the Board". legacy.cookcountyil.gov. Office of the Secretary to the Board of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Andreas, A. T., ed. (1884). History of Cook County, Illinois. A. T. Andreas. p. 352. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  6. ^ "Holden Lionized". Chicago Tribune. November 26, 1876. p. 1. Retrieved November 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "The Republican County Ticket". Chicago Tribune. November 6, 1887. p. 4. Retrieved May 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "DRIVERS GO INTO POLITICS". Newspapers.com. Chicago Tribune. November 3, 1902. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  9. ^ "EDWARD J. BRUNDAGE Republican Candidate for President of County Board". Newspapers.com. Chicago Eagle. October 29, 1904. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  10. ^ Chicago Daily News National Almanac for 1910. Chicago Daily News. p. 459. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  11. ^ "MANN'S FOE CITES 'HIGH PRICE' FIGUREs IN CONGRESS FIGHT". Newspapers.com. October 29, 1910. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Worthy County Candidates Get "Tribune's" O.K.". Newspapers.com. Chicago Tribune. November 1, 1914. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  13. ^ "CERMAK SELECTS OFFICIAL FAMILY". Newspapers.com. The Indianapolis Star. April 10, 1931. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  14. ^ "CLAYTON F. SMITH". Newspapers.com. Chicago Tribune. January 1, 1946. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  15. ^ "List of County Board Candidates". Newspapers.com. Chicago Tribune. October 26, 1954. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  16. ^ "Study of Family Court Offered by County Board". Newspapers.com. Chicago Tribune. November 8, 1961. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  17. ^ "Simon Raps Charges From GOP on 'Waste". Newspapers.com. Arlington Heights Herald. October 4, 1962. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  18. ^ "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1986" (PDF). voterinfo.net. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 3, 2008.
  19. ^ "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1990" (PDF). voterinfo.net. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 3, 2008.
  20. ^ "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1998" (PDF). results.cookcountyclerkil.gov.
  21. ^ "TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE RETURNS AND PROCLAMATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE CANVASS OF THE ELECTION RETURNS FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION HELD IN EACH OF THE PRECINCTS IN ALL THE WARDS IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2002 A.D." (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  22. ^ "SUBURBAN COOK COUNTY RESULTS". voterinfonet.com. Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original on February 9, 2005.
  23. ^ "Cook County and the City of Chicago Combined Summary Report November 2006 General Election Tuesday, November 7th, 2006" (PDF). Cook County Clerk's Office. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  24. ^ "Cook County General Election November 2, 2010 Combined Summary Report" (PDF). Cook County Clerk's Office. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  25. ^ "General Election Cook County and The City of Chicago Tuesday, November 4, 2014 Combined Summary" (PDF). Cook County Clerk's Office. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  26. ^ "Cook County and The City of Chicago General Election November 6, 2018 Combined Summary" (PDF). Cook County Clerk's Office. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  27. ^ "Tabulated Statement of the Returns and Proclamation of the Results of the Canvass of the Election Returns for the November 8, 2022 Gubernatorial General Election Held in Each of the Precincts in Cook County, Illinois Including the City of Chicago" (PDF). www.cookcountyclerkil.gov. Cook County Clerk. 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022.