The 2002
Cook County Board of Commissioners
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, Illinois, Cook County, which includes the City ...
election was held on November 5, 2002.
It was preceded by a
primary election
Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...
held on March 19, 2002.
It coincided with other
2002 Cook County, Illinois, elections
The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 5, 2002.
Primaries were held on March 19, 2002.
Elections were held for Assessor, Clerk, Sheriff, Treasurer, President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, all 17 seats ...
(including
the election for
president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners
The President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners is the Chief executive officer, chief executive of county government in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois. They are the head of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. The presi ...
). It saw all seventeen seats of the Cook County Board of Commissioners up for election to four-year terms.
As these were the first elections held following the
2000 United States census, the seats faced
redistricting
Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census.
The U.S. Constitution in Art ...
before this election.
1st district
Incumbent first-term Commissioner
Earlean Collins, a Democrat, was reelected.
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.
[ The Republican Party ultimately nominated Robin Lee Meyer.]
General election
2nd district
Incumbent fourth-term Commissioner Bobbie L. Steele, a Democrat, was reelected, running unopposed in both the primary and general election.
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.[
]
General election
3rd district
Incumbent Commissioner Jerry Butler
Jerry Butler Jr. (December 8, 1939 – February 20, 2025) was an American soul singer-songwriter, producer, musician, and politician. He was the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group the Impressions, who were inducted into the Rock and ...
, a Democrat who first assumed the office in 1985, was reelected, running unopposed in both the primary and general election.
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.[
]
General election
4th district
Incumbent Commissioner John Stroger
John H. Stroger Jr. (May 19, 1929January 18, 2008) was an American politician who served from 1994 until 2006 as the first African-American president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners (the primary executive officer of Cook County, Illi ...
, a Democrat, was reelected.
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
General election
5th district
Incumbent second-term Commissioner Deborah Sims, a Democrat, was reelected.
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
General election
Republican primary winner Daniel "Dan" Wooten withdrew and was not replaced on the ballot.
6th district
Incumbent first-term Commissioner William Moran, a Democrat, unsuccessfully sought reelection. Joan Patricia Murphy
Joan Patricia Murphy ( O'Malley; 1936/1937 – September 18, 2016) was an American Democratic politician and member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, representing the 6th district which is located in the Chicago Southland.
Biography
...
defeated him for the Democratic nomination, and won the general election unopposed.
Incumbent Moran had been a perennial candidate
A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates are most common where there is no limit on the number of times that a person can run for office and little cost ...
who, in the 1998 general election, had won an upset victory over incumbent then-Republican Barclay "Bud" Fleming.
Barclay "Bud" Fleming, who had been ousted in 1998, also unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for this election.
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.[
]
General election
7th district
Incumbent second-term Commissioner Joseph Mario Moreno, a Democrat, was reelected.
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.[ The Republican Party ultimately nominated Juan Moreno.]
General election
8th district
Incumbent second-term Commissioner Roberto Maldonado
Roberto Maldonado is an American politician who served as the alderman of the 26th Ward of the City of Chicago, Illinois from 2009 to 2023.
Early life, education, and early career, Children
Maldonado earned both his undergraduate and his mast ...
, a Democrat, was reelected, running unopposed in both the primary and general election.
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.[
]
General election
9th district
Incumbent second-term Commissioner Peter N. Silvestri, a Republican, was reelected.
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
General election
10th district
Incumbent first-term Commissioner Mike Quigley
Michael Bruce Quigley ( ; born October 17, 1958) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since the April 7, 2009 special election. The district includes most of Chicago's North Side and several of its western suburbs. ...
, a Democrat, was reelected.
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.[
]
General election
11th district
Incumbent Commissioner John P. Daley, a Democrat in office since 1992, was reelected.
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
General election
12th district
Incumbent fourth-term Commissioner Ted Lechowicz, a Democrat, sought reelection, but was defeated in the Democratic primary by Forrest Claypool
Forrest Edward Claypool is an American politician who has held several positions in the governments of Chicago, Cook County, and the State of Illinois. He was the Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Public Schools from July 27, 2015, until Decem ...
who went on to win the general election.
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.[
]
General election
13th district
Incumbent second-term Commissioner Calvin Sutker, a Democrat, sought reelection, but was defeated in the Democratic primary by Larry Suffredin
Lawrence J. "Larry" Suffredin (born October 5, 1947) is an American politician who formerly served as a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners representing the 13th district.
Early life and education
Suffredin was born October 5, 1947 ...
, who went on to win the general election.
Primaries
Democratic
In what was regarded to be an upset, Sutker unseated incumbent Suffredin.
Republican
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.[ The Republican Party ultimately nominated Robert D. Shearer, Jr.]
General election
14th district
Incumbent first-term Commissioner Gregg Goslin
Gregg Goslin was a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners for the 14th district which includes parts of Barrington, Inverness, Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Arlington Heights, Wheeling, Northbrook, Northfield and Glenview.
Earl ...
, a Republican, was reelected.
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
General election
15th district
Incumbent seventh-term
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
General election
16th district
Incumbent Commissioner Allan C. Carr, a Republican, sought reelection, but was defeated in the Republican primary by Tony Peraica
Anthony J. "Tony" Peraica (born April 14, 1957) is an American politician from Chicago, Illinois. He was the Cook County Commissioner for the 16th district, and was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for Cook County treasurer in 1998, for pr ...
, who went on to win the general election.
Primaries
Democratic
Melrose Park Village President Ronald M. Serpico won the Democratic primary, defeating lawyer William Edward Gomolinski, Patrick "Chico" Hernandez and Stephen J. Mazur.
Republican
General election
17th district
Incumbent fourth-termHerb Schumann
Herbert T. Schumann, Jr. is an American politician who formerly served as a Cook County commissioner from 1990 to 2002.
Early life and education
Schumann was born in either 1951 or 1952.
Shumann's father, Herb Schumann Sr., was one of the incor ...
, a Republican, sought reelection, but was defeated in the Republican primary by Elizabeth Ann Doody Gorman, who went on to win the general election.
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
General election
Democratic primary winner Candice Marie Morrison withdrew before the election.
Summarizing statistics
References
{{2002 United States elections
Cook County Board of Commissioners elections
Board of Commissioners
A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States. A county usually has three to five ...