Cook County Board of Commissioners

Cook County Board of Commissioners
Cook County Board of Commissioners
Type
Type	Unicameral
Leadership
President	Toni Preckwinkle ; since December 6, 2010
Structure
Seats	17
Political groups	Majority Democratic (16); Minority Republican (1);
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Last election	2022
Next election	2026
Meeting place
	City Hall-County Building; 118 N Clark St; Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Website
	Official website

The Cook County Board of Commissioners is a legislative body made up of 17 commissioners who are elected by district, and a president who is elected county-wide, all for four-year terms. Cook County, which includes the City of Chicago, is the United States' second-largest county with a population of 5.2 million residents. The county board sets policy and laws for the county regarding property, public health services, public safety, and maintenance of county highways.^[1] It is presided over by its president and the county's chief executive, currently Toni Preckwinkle.

The commissioners, president, and county clerk (who serves as clerk of the board), hold the same offices ex officio on the separate governmental taxing body, the Cook County Forest Preserve District Board of Commissioners.

History

Until 1870, Cook County had been governed under the "township supervisor" system, under which each Chicago ward elected a supervisor, and each township elected one or more as well depending on population, creating a board of 50 members, less than half from Chicago. In the wake of a scandal involving then board chairman J. J. Kearney (who was eventually unseated and expelled from the board), the new commission was created pursuant to an amendment to the state constitution, initially with ten Chicago commissioners elected from groups of wards within the city, and five members elected from groups of townships outside the city, presided over by a chairman elected by the board from among their own number. The commissioners were elected for three-year terms, on a staggered basis. The first meeting of the new board took place December 4, 1871; they elected businessman and Civil War general Julius White of Evanston as their chairman.^[2]

Elections

The board's seventeen commissioners are elected from individual constituencies for four year terms, with elections for all constituencies held during United States midterm elections.^[3] Its president is elected at-large to a four-year term in elections held during United States midterm elections.

Up through 1990, commissioners were elected through two sets of elections, one held in Chicago to elect ten commissioners and another held in suburban Cook County to elect the remaining seven commissioners. In 1994, the board switched to having commissioners elected from individual constituencies.^[4]

Commissioners

Current

This is a list of the Cook County Commissioners in order by district. This list is current as of December 2022.

District	Commissioner	Residence	Start	Party
President (at large)	Toni Preckwinkle	Chicago	2010	Democratic
1	Tara Stamps	Chicago	2023	Democratic
2	Dennis Deer	Chicago	2017	Democratic
3	Bill Lowry	Chicago	2018	Democratic
4	Stanley Moore	Chicago	2013	Democratic
5	Monica Gordon	Chicago Heights	2022	Democratic
6	Donna Miller	Lynwood	2018	Democratic
7	Alma Anaya	Chicago	2018	Democratic
8	Anthony Quezada	Chicago	2022	Democratic
9	Maggie Trevor	Rolling Meadows	2022	Democratic
10	Bridget Gainer	Chicago	2009	Democratic
11	John Daley	Chicago	1992	Democratic
12	Bridget Degnen	Chicago	2018	Democratic
13	Josina Morita	Skokie	2022	Democratic
14	Scott Britton	Glenview	2018	Democratic
15	Kevin Morrison	Mount Prospect	2018	Democratic
16	Frank Aguilar	Cicero	2020	Democratic
17	Sean Morrison	Palos Park	2015	Republican

Past

Before 1994

Individuals who, before 1994, served as president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners included J. Frank Aldrich, Edward J. Brundage, Anton Cermak, George Dunne, Richard B. Ogilvie, Richard Phelan, Dan Ryan Jr. Charles C. P. Holden, and Seymour Simon. The first county board chairman (a role which preceded the creation of the president position) was Julius White.^[5]

Individuals who served as commissioners before the move to individual constituencies in 1994 included Charles Bernardini, George Marquis Bogue, Charles S. Bonk, Jerry Butler, Allan C. Carr, Carl R. Chindblom, John P. Daley, Danny K. Davis, Oscar Stanton De Priest, Marco Domico, Martin Emerich, Carter Harrison Sr., John Humphrey, John Jones, Walter J. LaBuy, Ted Lechowicz, Maria Pappas, Lillian Piotrowski, Herb Schumann, Harry H. Semrow, Francis Cornwall Sherman, Seymour Simon, Horace M. Singer, Bobbie L. Steele, Alanson Sweet, William Hale Thompson, and Jill Zwick.

Since 1994

Members serving (by term)
Term	Members
1994–1998	President: John Stroger (D) 1st district: Danny Davis (D) 2nd district: Bobbie L. Steele (D) 3rd district: Jerry Butler (D) 4th district: John Stroger (D) 5th district: Deborah Sims (D) 6th district: Barclav "Bud" Fleming (R) 7th district: Joseph Mario Moreno (D) 8th district: Roberto Maldonado (D) 9th district: Peter N. Silvestri (R) 10th district: Maria Pappas (D) 11th district: John P. Daley (D) 12th district: Ted Lechowicz (D) 13th district: Calvin Sutker (D) 14th district: Richard Seibel (R) 15th district: Carl R. Hansen (R) 16th district: Allan C. Carr (R) 17th district: Herb Schumann (R)
1998–2002	President: John Stroger (D) 1st district: Danny Davis (D) through Jan. 1999; Darlena Williams–Burnett (D) beginning in 1999 2nd district: Bobbie L. Steele (D) 3rd district: Jerry Butler (D) 4th district: John Stroger (D) 5th district: Deborah Sims (D) 6h district: William Moran (D) 7th district: Joseph Mario Moreno (D) 8th district: Roberto Maldonado (D) 9th district: Peter N. Silvestri (R) 10th district: Mike Quigley (D) 11th district: John P. Daley (D) 12th district: Ted Lechowicz (D) 13th district: Calvin Sutker (D) 14th district: Gregg Goslin (R) 15th district: Carl R. Hansen (R) 16th district: Allan C. Carr (R) 17th district: Herb Schumann (R)
2002–2006	President: John Stroger (D) through Aug. 2006; Bobbie L. Steele (D) beginning in Aug. 2006 1st district: Earlean Collins (D) 2nd district: Bobbie L. Steele (D) 3rd district: Jerry Butler (D) 4th district: John Stroger (D) through Nov. 2006; William Beavers (D) beginning in Nov. 2006 5th district: Deborah Sims (D) 6th district: Joan Patricia Murphy (D) 7th district: Joseph Mario Moreno (D) 8th district: Roberto Maldonado (D) 9th district: Peter N. Silvestri (R) 10th district: Mike Quigley (D) 11th district: John P. Daley (D) 12th district: Forrest Claypool (D) 13th district: Larry Suffredin (D) 15th district: Gregg Goslin (R) 15th district: Carl R. Hansen (R) 16th district: Tony Peraica (R) 17th district: Elizabeth Ann Doody Gorman (R)
2006–2010	President: Todd Stroger 1st district: Earlean Collins (D) 2nd district: Robert Steele (D) 3rd district: Jerry Butler (D) 4th district: William Beavers (D) 5th district: Deborah Sims (D) 6th district: Joan Patricia Murphy (D) 7th district: Joseph Mario Moreno (D) 8th district: Roberto Maldonado (D) through Aug. 2009; Edwin Reyes (D) since Aug. 2009 9th district: Peter N. Silvestri (R) 10th district: Mike Quigley (D) through Apr. 2009; Bridget Gainer (D) since Apr. 2009 11th district: John P. Daley (D) 12th district: Forrest Claypool (D) 13th district:Larry Suffredin(D) 14th district: Gregg Goslin (R) 15th district: Tim Schneider (R) 16th district: Tony Peraica (R) 17th district: Elizabeth Ann Doody Gorman (R)
2010–2014	President: Toni Preckwinkle (D) 1st district: Earlean Collins (D) 2nd district: Robert Steele (D) 3rd district: Jerry Butler (D) 4th district: William Beavers (D) through Mar. 2013; Stanley Moore (D) beginning in Apr. 2013 5th district: Deborah Sims (D) 6th district: Joan Patricia Murphy (D) 7th district: Chuy García (D) 8th district: Edwin Reyes (D) 9th district: Peter N. Silvestri (R) 10th district: Bridget Gainer (D) 11th district: John P. Daley (D) 12th district: John Fritchey (D) 13th district: Larry Suffredin (D) 14th district: Gregg Goslin (R) 15th district: Tim Schneider (R) 16th district: Jeff Tobolski (D) 17th district: Elizabeth Ann Doody Gorman (R)
2014–2018	President: Toni Preckwinkle (D) 1st district: Richard Boykin (D) 2nd district: Robert Steele (D) through Jun. 2017; Dennis Deer (D) beginning in Jul. 2017 3rd district: Jerry Butler (D) 4th district: Stanley Moore (D) 5th district: Deborah Sims (D) 6th district: Joan Patricia Murphy (D) through Sep. 2016; Edward Moody (D) beginning in Oct. 2016 7th district: Chuy García (D) 8th district: Luis Arroyo Jr. (D) 9th district: Peter N. Silvestri (R) 10th district: Bridget Gainer (D) 11th district: John P. Daley (D) 12th district: John Fritchey (D) 13th district: Larry Suffredin (D) 14th district: Gregg Goslin (R) 15th district: Tim Schneider (R) 16th district: Jeff Tobolski (D) 17th district: Elizabeth Ann Doody Gorman (R) through Jul. 2015; Sean M. Morrison (R) beginning in Jul. 2015
2018–2022	President: Toni Preckwinkle (D) 1st district: Brandon Johnson (D) 2nd district: Dennis Deer (D) 3rd district: Bill Lowry (D) 4th district: Stanley Moore (D) 5th district: Deborah Sims (D) 6th district: Donna Miller (D) 7th district: Alma E. Anya (D) 8th district: Luis Arroyo Jr. (D) 9th district: Peter N. Silvestri (R) 10th district: Bridget Gainer (D) 11th district: John P. Daley (D) 12th district: Bridget Degenen (D) 13th district: Larry Suffredin (D) 14th district: Scott R. Britton (D) 15th district: Kevin B. Morrison (D) 16th district: Jeff Tobolski (D) until Mar. 2020; Frank Aguilar (D) since Apr. 2020 17th district: Sean M. Morrison (R)
2022–present	President: Toni Preckwinkle (D) 1st district: Brandon Johnson (D) through May 2023; Tara Stamps (D) beginning in Jun. 2023 2nd district: Dennis Deer (D) 3rd district: Bill Lowry (D) 4th district: Stanley Moore (D) 5th district: Monica Gordon (D) 6th district: Donna Miller (D) 7th district: Alma E. Anya (D) 8th district: Anthony Quezada (D) 9th district: Maggie Tevor (D) 10th district: Bridget Gainer (D) 11th district: John P. Daley (D) 12th district: Bridget Degenen (D) 13th district: Josina Morita (D) 14th district: Scott R. Britton (D) 15th district: Kevin B. Morrison (D) 16th district: Frank Aguilar (D) 17th district: Sean M. Morrison (R)

1st district
Name	Party	Tenure	Terms served
Danny Davis	Democratic	Dec. 1994–Jan. 1997	½ term
Darlena Williams-Burnett	Democratic	1997–Dec. 1998	½ term
Earlean Collins	Democratic	Dec. 1998–Dec. 2014	4 terms
Richard Boykin	Democratic	Dec. 2014–Dec. 2018	1 term
Brandon Johnson	Democratic	Dec. 2018–May 2023	1⅓ terms
Tara Stamps	Democratic	June 2023–present

2nd district
Name	Party	Tenure	Terms served
Bobbie L. Steele	Democratic	Dec. 1994–Dec. 2006	3 terms
Robert Steele	Democratic	Dec. 2006–Jun. 2017
Dennis Deer	Democratic	Jul. 2017–present

3rd district
Name	Party	Tenure	Terms served
Jerry Butler	Democratic	Dec. 1994–Dec. 2018	6 terms
Bill Lowry	Democratic	Dec. 2018–present

4th district
Name	Party	Tenure	Terms served	Notes
John Stroger	Democratic	Dec. 1994–Aug. 2006	3 terms	Also coincidingly served as board president
William Beavers	Democratic	Nov. 2006–March 2013
Stanley Moore	Democratic	Apr. 2013–present

5th district
Name	Party	Tenure	Terms served
Deborah Sims	Democratic	Dec. 1994–Dec. 2022	7 terms
Monica Gordon	Democratic	Dec. 2022–present

6th district
Name	Party	Tenure	Terms served
Barclav "Bud" Fleming	Republican	Dec. 1994–Dec. 1998	1 term
William Moran	Democratic	Dec. 1998–Dec. 2002	1 term
Joan Patricia Murphy	Democratic	Dec. 2002–Sep. 2016	3½ terms
Edward Moody	Democratic	Oct. 2016–Dec. 2018	½ term
Donna Miller	Democratic	Dec. 2018–present

7th district
Name	Party	Tenure	Terms served
Joseph Mario Moreno	Democratic	Dec. 1994–Dec. 2010	4 terms
Chuy García	Democratic	Dec. 2010–Dec. 2018	2 terms
Alma E. Anya	Democratic	Dec. 2018–present

8th district
Name	Party	Tenure	Terms served
Roberto Maldonado	Democratic	Dec. 1994–Aug. 2009
Edwin Reyes	Democratic	Aug. 2009–Dec. 2014
Luis Arroyo Jr.	Democratic	Dec. 2014–Dec. 2022	3 terms
Anthony Quezada	Democratic	Dec. 2022–present

9th district
Name	Party	Tenure	Terms served
Peter N. Silvestri	Republican	Dec. 1994–present

10th district
Name	Party	Tenure	Terms served
Peter N. Silvestri	Republican	Dec. 1994–present	7 terms
Maggie Trevor	Democratic	Dec. 2022–present

11th district
Name	Party	Tenure	Terms served
John P. Daley	Democratic	Dec. 1994–present

12th district
Name	Party	Tenure	Terms served
Ted Lechowicz	Democratic	Dec. 1994–Dec. 2002	2 terms
Forrest Claypool	Democratic	Dec. 2002–Dec. 2010	2 terms
John Fritchey	Democratic	Dec. 2010–Dec. 2018	2 terms
Bridget Degnen	Democratic	Dec. 2018–present

13th district
Name	Party	Tenure	Terms served
Calvin Sutker	Democratic	Dec. 1994–Dec. 2002	2 terms
Larry Suffredin	Democratic	Dec. 2002–Dec. 2022	5 terms
Josina Morita	Democratic	Dec. 2022–present

1rth district
Name	Party	Tenure	Terms served
Richard Seibel	Republican	Dec. 1994–Dec. 2002	1 term
Gregg Goslin	Republican	Dec. 1998–Dec. 2018	5 terms
Scott R. Britton	Democratic	Dec. 2018–present

15th district
Name	Party	Tenure	Terms served
Carl R. Hansen	Republican	Dec. 1994–Dec. 2006	3 terms
Tim Schneider	Republican	Dec. 2006–Dec. 2018	3 terms
Kevin B. Morrison	Democratic	Dec. 2018–present

16th district
Name	Party	Tenure	Terms served
Allan C. Carr	Republican	Dec. 1994–Dec. 2002	2 terms
Tony Peraica	Republican	Dec. 2002–Dec. 2010	2 terms
Jeff Tobolski	Democratic	Dec. 2010–Mar. 2020
Frank Aguilar	Democratic	Aug. 2020–present

17th district
Name	Party	Tenure	Terms served
Herb Schumann	Republican	Dec. 1994–Dec. 2002	2 terms
Elizabeth Ann Doody Gorman	Republican	Dec. 2002–Jul. 20, 2015
Sean M. Morrison	Republican	Jul. 2015–present

References

^ About the Cook County Board of Commissioners Archived 2013-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
^ Johnson, Charles B. Growth of Cook County Vol. 1: A History of the Large Lake-Shore County That Includes Chicago Chicago: Board of Commissioners of Cook County, Ill., 1960; pp. 91-101
^ "Municipal elections in Cook County, Illinois (2020)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
^ "CHOICES FOR COOK COUNTY BOARD". Chicago Tribune. 22 October 1998. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
^ "Cook County, Illinois - Secretary of the Board". legacy.cookcountyil.gov. Office of the Secretary to the Board of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2020.

External links

Cook County official government website
Collection of news and information about the Cook County Board from the Chicago Tribune.

[1] About the Cook County Board of Commissioners Archived 2013-10-29 at the Wayback Machine

[2] Johnson, Charles B. Growth of Cook County Vol. 1: A History of the Large Lake-Shore County That Includes Chicago Chicago: Board of Commissioners of Cook County, Ill., 1960; pp. 91-101

[3] "Municipal elections in Cook County, Illinois (2020)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2 November 2020.

[4] "CHOICES FOR COOK COUNTY BOARD". Chicago Tribune. 22 October 1998. Retrieved 16 October 2020.

[5] "Cook County, Illinois - Secretary of the Board". legacy.cookcountyil.gov. Office of the Secretary to the Board of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2020.

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