Anthony J. "Tony" Peraica (born April 14, 1957) is an American politician from

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. He was the

Cook County Commissioner 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 Unit ...

for the 16th district, and was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for

Cook County treasurer The Cook County treasurer is the treasurer of county government in Cook County, Illinois Office description The Cook County treasurer oversees the second-largest system of property tax collection and distribution in the United States. The inaug ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, 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 ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, for

Cook County state's attorney The Cook County State's Attorney is the District attorney, chief prosecutor for Cook County, Illinois. The State's Attorney oversees the second-largest prosecutor's office in the United States, with over 600 attorneys and 1,200 employees. The off ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, and for

Cook County clerk The Cook County Clerk is the Municipal clerk, clerk of county government in Cook County, Illinois. History The office of Cook County Clerk was established in 1831, the year that Cook County, Illinois was created. For the first several years, th ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Life

Peraica was born in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

in 1957, and was orphaned at the age of 11. He came to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

when he was 13. He lived in

Bridgeport, Chicago Bridgeport is one of the 77 community areas in Chicago, on the city's South Side (Chicago), South Side, bounded on the north by the Chicago River#South Branch, South Branch of the Chicago River, on the west by Ashland Avenue, on the south by P ...

with his aunt and uncle. He attended the

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...

, where he earned his B.A. in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. He went on to earn his J.D. from the John Marshall Law School. He was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1984, and continues to work as a lawyer in private practice at Anthony J. Peraica & Associates. In 1994, Peraica was the Democratic nominee for the 16th district election to the

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 ...

, losing to Republican Allan C. Carr. In 1998, Peraica switched parties and was the Republican nominee for Cook County Treasurer, this time losing an open race to Democrat

Maria Pappas Maria Pappas is a Greek American attorney and politician who has served as the Cook County Treasurer since 1998. Prior to that, she served two terms on the Cook County Board of Commissioners; first as one of ten members elected from Chicago an ...

. He was elected to the

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

as a Republican, after defeating Al Carr in the Republican primary. Peraica served as the Lyons Township Republican

committeeman In the United States, a political party committee is an organization, officially affiliated with a political party and registered with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), which raises and spends money for political campaigning. Political party c ...

from 2002 to December 31, 2012. In

, Peraica secured the Republican nomination for board president. Democrat

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 ...

challenged incumbent John Stroger in the Democratic primary. Stroger fell ill in the days leading up the primary, but defeated Claypool narrowly. Stroger withdrew from the general election, and the Democratic Party selected his son, Todd Stroger, to take his place on the ballot. Peraica ran a strong campaign in the heavily Democratic county, but ultimately lost in a close race to the younger Stroger. Peraica did, however, secure reelection to the county board. In November 2008, Peraica lost the race for

Cook County State's Attorney The Cook County State's Attorney is the District attorney, chief prosecutor for Cook County, Illinois. The State's Attorney oversees the second-largest prosecutor's office in the United States, with over 600 attorneys and 1,200 employees. The off ...

Anita Alvarez Anita M. Alvarez (born January 16, 1960) is the former State's Attorney for Cook County, Illinois, United States. Alvarez was the first Hispanic woman elected to this position, after being the first Latina to win the Democratic nomination for ...

, who was backed by the Chicago Democratic Party, in November 2008's general election. In 2010 Republican Primary election, Peraica defeated his opponent 75% to 25%. In the 2010 election for the Cook County 16th District Commissioner, he was arrested for tearing up signs of his Democratic opponent Jeffery Tobolski in McCook. On November 2, 2010, Peraica lost his bid for reelection to Democrat Jeffery Tobolski, garnering 42.3 of the vote to Tobolski's 50.6%. On December 4, 2012, Peraica was found guilty of criminal damage to property for defacing the former rival's campaign signs prior to the 2010 election, and he was sentenced to four months of court supervision. During the

2016 Republican Party presidential primaries Presidential primaries and caucuses of the Republican Party took place within all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories between February 1 and June 7, 2016. These elections selected the 2,472 delegates that we ...

, Peraica served on the Illinois leadership team of the

presidential campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referen ...

of Senator

Ted Cruz Rafael Edward Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz was the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 ...

. Peraica and wife Nilofar live in Riverside.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peraica, Tony 1957 births Living people Yugoslav emigrants to the United States American people of Croatian descent Members of the Cook County Board of Commissioners Politicians from Chicago University of Illinois Chicago alumni Illinois Republicans Illinois Democrats