THE RACE
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Four Democrats and two Republicans candidates are seeking their party’s nomination for Cook County Board president, a post in charge of some 25,000 jobs and a $3 billion budget in one of the nation’s largest counties.
THE RACE Four Democrats and two Republicans candidates are seeking their party’s nomination for Cook County Board president, a post in charge of some 25,000 jobs and a $3 billion budget in one of the nation’s largest counties. It has also been dogged by ongoing corruption, bloated spending and patronage hiring. One of the first things on the next president’s agenda will be deciding what do with a scheduled tax increase when Chicago already has the highest sales tax in the nation. — THE CANDIDATES DEMOCRATS: —Incumbent Todd Stroger’s tenure has been plagued by allegations of ethical lapses, starting with how he got the job. The 47-year-old former Chicago alderman took over the position in 2006 from his father, who retired after suffering a stroke. Stroger, who once promoted his own cousin to chief financial officer, says he has avoided massive budget problems and improved health care access, but he did it with an unpopular tax increase. While Stroger has been widely criticized as ineffective and unpopular, he also received a surprising endorsement from a group of prominent Chicago religious leaders, including the Rev. Clay Evans and Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan. —Toni Preckwinkle is a Chicago alderman with nearly two decades of experience representing portions of the city’s South Side. The 62-year-old former high school teacher bills herself as a candidate who supports real change. She supports repealing the Stroger sales tax and has been trying to build support among white and Hispanic voters. —Terry O’Brien, Cook County Water Reclamation District president, vows to repeal the remaining half-cent of the county’s sales tax increase. O’Brien, 53, is the sole white Democratic candidate but says he’s spent his campaign reaching out to voters in all communities. O’Brien says the county must be run like a business to reduce waste and rebuild trust with voters. —Dorothy Brown, 56, was elected circuit clerk in 2000 and made an unsuccessful bid for Chicago mayor in 2007. The accountant touts her financial background, saying it would help lead Cook County out of fiscal crisis. But Brown’s office has been plagued by questionable practices, including her accepting cash birthday gifts from her employees. REPUBLICANS: —Roger Keats, 61, served in the Illinois legislature from 1976 to 1993, spending most of that time in the Senate. He says his top priority is cleaning up corruption, in part by opening all records to the public and adding more than two dozen inspectors. —John Garrido says he’ll be a fresh start for Cook County. Garrido, 42, is a lawyer and a tactical lieutenant with the Chicago Police Department, where he has spent nearly two decades. He has vowed to take a 10 percent pay cut if elected and would urge other elected officials to do the same. — THE ISSUES — Taxes: Among major cities, Chicago has the highest sales tax in the country, at 10.25 percent and it’s scheduled to go up even more. Part of that total tax is a penny-on-the-dollar increase that Stroger pushed through in 2008. But in November, county board members overrode Stroger’s veto and cut the county portion of the sales tax from 1.75 percent to 1.25 percent. Stroger is fighting to preserve the remainder of the increase, saying it saved essential services, but several candidates have already vowed to repeal it entirely. — Corruption: The post of county board president has been haunted by allegations of corruption and scandal: padded payrolls, nepotism, hiring based on clout. A former head of the Better Government Association once said the younger Stroger got the position to help "to protect the hanger-ons of the Stroger dynasty." Cleaning out corruption and ending Chicago machine politics has been the theme of nearly all campaigns in the race. — Race: Racial politics have been prevalent throughout the campaign, whether subtle or blatant. Cook County has the largest black population of any county in the U.S., at about 1.4 million, and has had a black president since 1994. In November, Democratic U.S. Rep. Danny Davis dropped out of the running because he said he didn’t want to want to take away votes from the three other black candidates. A group of religious leaders, including Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, endorsed Stroger and called on other black candidates to drop out, fearing a split black vote would lead to O’Brien’s election. In recent weeks fliers have surfaced from a group calling itself "Soldiers 4 Stroger" which uses racist terms, including the N-word, to imply Stroger’s challengers are controlled by white politicians. — THE HORSERACE A Chicago Tribune poll in early December puts Brown ahead with 29 percent of voters, followed by Preckwinkle with 20 percent and Stroger with 14. Still, the poll found that 26 percent were still undecided. Brown has picked up an endorsement from U.S. Rep. Danny Davis and Preckwinkle has been endorsed by Democratic U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. Neither of Stroger’s black challengers has emerged as the consensus candidate among black political leaders. Meanwhile, Stroger claims he’s been the victim of unfair media coverage and his leadership has saved essential services. — THE QUOTES — Stroger: "Yes, I have had to make some unpopular decisions, but they have been in the best interest of all Cook County residents." —Brown: "Now more than ever, Cook County needs a leader who has a proven record of professional fiscal management." —O’Brien: "I’ve been cleaning up waste at the Water Reclamation District. We’ll clean up waste in county government. Enough is enough." — Garrido: "Our taxes are too high and I am tired of being treated like an ATM by these machine politicians." — Keats: "In Illinois and Cook County, it isn’t just the taxes that are too high. The regulatory agencies see themselves as fiefdoms defending their turf, not public servants facilitating the taxpayer’s interests." — Preckwinkle: "The way we’ve got to think about this is this is not an African-American primary, it’s a Democratic primary." — THE NET — Stroger: www.strogerforpresident.com — Preckwinkle: www.tonipreckwinkle.org — O’Brien: www.obrienforcookcounty.com — Brown: www.friendsofdorothybrown.org — Keats: www.keatsforcook.com — Garrido: www.garrido2010.com/bio.htm Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
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