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1994 Cook County Board of Commissioners election

The 1994 Cook County Board of Commissioners election was held on November 9, 1994. It was preceded by a primary election held on March 15, 1994. It coincided with other 1994 Cook County, Illinois, elections (including the election for president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners). It saw all seventeen seats of the Cook County Board of Commissioners up for election to four-year terms.

This was the first election for the Cook County Board of Commissioners conducted with individual districts, as previous elections had been conducted through two sets of at-large elections (one for ten seats from the city of Chicago and another for seven seats from suburban Cook County).

Six of those elected were new to the Cook County Board of Commissioners, though the number of seats that each party held remained unchanged.

Background and overview

This was the first election for the Cook County Board of Commissioners that had members elected from single-member districts. Previous elections had been conducted through two sets of at-large elections (one for ten seats from the city of Chicago and another for seven seats from suburban Cook County).

Ninety candidates filed run ahead of the primaries. Six of those that won election were new to the Cook County Board of Commissioners. The number of seats that each party won remained unchanged.

1st district

Danny K. Davis, an incumbent Democrat who had served a single term as a commissioner from Chicago at-large, was elected to the 1st district.

Primaries

Democratic

Davis faced no opponents in the Democratic primary.

Republican

No candidates ran in the Republican Party primary.

Harold Washington Party

General election

2nd district

Bobbie L. Steele, an incumbent Democrat who had served two-terms as a commissioner from Chicago at-large, was elected to the 2nd district.

Primaries

Democratic

Republican

No candidates ran in the Republican primary.

Harold Washington Party

General election

3rd district

Jerry Butler, an incumbent Democrat who had served as a commissioner from Chicago at-large for two terms, was elected to the 3rd district.

Primaries

Democratic

Republican

The Republican primary was won by Clara Simms-Johnson, a child protective investigator for the Department of Children and Family Services, who ran unopposed.

Harold Washington Party

No candidates ran in the Harold Washington Party primary.

General election

4th district

John Stroger, an incumbent Democrat who had served six terms as a commissioner from Chicago at-large, was elected to the 4th district.

Primaries

Democratic

Republican

No candidates ran in the Republican primary.

Harold Washington Party

The Harold Washington Party primary was won by Bruce Crosby, a community activist.

General election

5th district

Deborah Sims, a Democrat, was elected to the 5th district.

Primaries

Democratic

Deborah Sims defeated Governors State University political science professor Robert Donaldson in the Democratic primary.

Republican

Lawrence Ragland, an accountant, won the Republican primary.

Harold Washington Party

General election

6th district

Barclay "Bud" Fleming, a Republican, was elected to the 6th district.

Primaries

Democratic

Worth Township supervisor Joan Patricia Murphy won the Democratic primary. Joan Patricia Murphy had defeated state senator Richard F. Kelly in the Democratic primary.

Republican

Barclay "Bud" Fleming, an engineer who was the village president of Lynwood, won the Republican primary, defeating lawyer Helen Elizabeth Kelly as well as lawyer and East Hazel Crest village president Thomas Brown in the Republican primary.

Harold Washington Party

General election

The district was regarded as a potential "swing district", with both major parties seeing a potential for victory in its election.

7th district

Joseph Mario Moreno, a Democrat, was elected to the 7th district.

Primaries

Democratic

Republican

No candidates ran in the Republican primary.

Harold Washington Party

No candidates ran in the Harold Washington Party primary.

General election

8th district

Roberto Maldonado, a Democrat, was elected to the 8th district.

Primaries

Democratic

Republican

No candidates ran in the Republican primary.

Harold Washington Party

No candidates ran in the Harold Washington Party primary.

General election

9th district

Peter N. Silvestri, a Republican, was elected to the 9th district.

Domico had beaten five other candidates in the Democratic primary.

Silvestri faced no opponents in the Republican primary.

Primaries

Democratic

Marco Domico, who had served two terms as a commissioner from Chicago at-large, won the Democratic primary over seven opponents.

Republican

Elmwood Park village president Peter N. Silvestri won the Republican primary, running unopposed.

Harold Washington Party

No candidates ran in the Harold Washington Party primary.

General election

This district had been regarded as a "swing district", with both major parties being seen as having a chance of winning it.

10th district

Maria Pappas, an incumbent Democrat who had served a single term as a commissioner from Chicago at-large, was elected to the 10th district.

Primaries

Democratic

Pappas defeated three opponents to win the Democratic primary.

Republican

Republican Party nominee John McNeal, an attorney and 48th Ward Republican committeeman, won the Republican primary, running unopposed.

Harold Washington Party

General election

11th district

John P. Daley, an incumbent Democrat that had been appointed a commissioner from Chicago at-large in 1992, was elected to the 11th district.

Primaries

Democratic

John P. Daley defeated communications consultant Dennis Baker in the Democratic primary.

Republican

No candidates ran in the Republican primary.

Harold Washington Party

No candidates ran in the Harold Washington Party primary.

General election

12th district

Ted Lechowicz, an incumbent Democrat who had served two terms as a commissioner from Chicago at-large, was elected to the 12th district.

Primaries

Democratic

Ted Lechowicz defeated two opponents in the Democratic primary.

Republican

No candidates ran in the Republican primary.

Harold Washington Party

No candidates ran in the Harold Washington Party primary.

General election

13th district

Calvin Sutker, a Democrat, was elected to the 13th district.

Primaries

Democratic

Former state representative Calvin Sutker defeated two opponents in the Democratic primary.

Republican

Lourdes Gagui Mon, an educator, won Republican primary.

Harold Washington Party

No candidates ran in the Harold Washington Party primary.

General election

14th district

Richard Siebel, an incumbent Republican who had served several terms as a commissioner from suburban Cook County at-large, was elected to the 14th district. He defeated Democratic nominee Kelly Ann Sheehan.

In the Republican primary, Siebel defeated Palatine village president Rita Mullins.

Primaries

Democratic

No candidates ran in the Democratic primary. The Democratic Party ultimately nominated Kelly Ann Sheehan.

Republican

Harold Washington Party

No candidates ran in the Harold Washington Party primary.

General election

15th district

Carl R. Hansen, an incumbent Republican who had served five terms as a commissioner from suburban Cook County at-large, was elected to the 15th district.

Primaries

Democratic

No candidates ran in the Democratic primary.

Republican

Harold Washington Party

No candidates ran in the Harold Washington Party primary.

General election

16th district

Allan C. Carr, an incumbent Republican who had served as a commissioner from suburban Cook County at-large.

Primaries

Democratic

Attorney Tony Peraica won the Democratic primary, running unopposed.

Republican

Harold Washington Party

No candidates ran in the Harold Washington Party primary.

General election

17th district

Herb Schumann, an incumbent Republican who had served two terms as a commissioner from suburban Cook County at-large, was elected to the 17th district.

Primaries

Democratic

William Hurley, an insurance agent, won the Democratic primary, running unopposed.

Republican

Herb Schumann defeated lawyer Teressa Nuccio in the Republican primary.

General election

References