Cook County Board of Commissioners explained

Cook County Board of Commissioners
House Type:	Unicameral
Leader1 Type:	President
Leader1:	Toni Preckwinkle
Election1:	December 6, 2010
Structure1:	Cook County Board of Commissioners Composition.svg
Seats:	17
Political Groups1:	Majority Minority Vacant
Term Length:	4 years
Last Election1:	2022
Next Election1:	2026
Meeting Place:	City Hall-County Building 118 N Clark St Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

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)		Chicago	2010	Democratic
1		Chicago	2023	Democratic
2	Vacant	Chicago
3		Chicago	2018	Democratic
4		Chicago	2013	Democratic
5		Chicago Heights	2022	Democratic
6		Lynwood	2018	Democratic
7		Chicago	2018	Democratic
8		Chicago	2022	Democratic
9		Rolling Meadows	2022	Democratic
10		Chicago	2009	Democratic
11		Chicago	1992	Democratic
12		Chicago	2018	Democratic
13		Skokie	2022	Democratic
14		Glenview	2018	Democratic
15		Mount Prospect	2018	Democratic
16		Cicero	2020	Democratic
17		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
		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

10th district

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

See also

• Cook County Board of Review
• Chicago City Council

External links

• Cook County official government website
  • Commissioners & Elected Officials
  • Secretary to the Board: Past Cook County Board Presidents
  • Current district map
• Collection of news and information about the Cook County Board from the Chicago Tribune.

Notes and References

1. http://www.cookcountygov.com/portal/server.pt/community/government/226/leadership/314 About the Cook County Board of Commissioners
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. Web site: Municipal elections in Cook County, Illinois (2020) . Ballotpedia . 2 November 2020 . en.
4. Web site: CHOICES FOR COOK COUNTY BOARD . Chicago Tribune . 16 October 2020 . 22 October 1998.
5. Web site: Cook County, Illinois - Secretary of the Board . legacy.cookcountyil.gov . Office of the Secretary to the Board of the Cook County Board of Commissioners . 28 October 2020 . 31 October 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201031152635/https://legacy.cookcountyil.gov/secretary/past_presidents.htm . dead .