Michael M. Cabonargi (born January 29, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer who formerly served as a commissioner of the

Cook County Board of Review The Cook County Board of Review is an independent office created by statute by the Illinois General Assembly and is governed by three commissioners who are elected by district for two- or four-year terms. Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, which in ...

from the 2nd district from 2011 until 2022. Since 2019, he has also served as a vice-chair of the

Democratic Party of Illinois The Democratic Party of Illinois is the affiliate of the Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic ...

. Since 2023, he has served as a regional director of the

Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is " ...

. In his early career, Cabonargi worked on the staffs of Illinois

U.S. senators The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

and

Dick Durbin Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, Durbin has served as the Senate Dem ...

. He then worked as a law clerk to U.S. District Court judge William J. Hibbler. Thereafter, he entered the private sector, working as a lawyer concentrating in complex commercial and regulatory litigation. From 2005, until being appointed to serve on the Cook County Board of Review in 2011, Cabonargi worked as senior attorney and prosecutor at the

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

. Cabonargi also held leadership roles within the

, and served as a 2020 presidential elector.

Early life and career

Cabonargi was born January 29, 1971. Cabonargi graduated from

Loyola Academy Loyola Academy is a private, Catholic, co-educational college preparatory high school run by the USA Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus in Wilmette, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago, and in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago ...

high school in 1989. In 1993, Cabonargi graduated from

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

with

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in both

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and

foreign affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

. From 1993 to 1997, Cabonargi worked as a staff assistant and economic development advisor in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

office of

U.S. senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

. In 1997, Cabonargi worked as a staff assistant in the Chicago office of U.S. senator

. In 2000, Cabonorgi received his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the

University of Illinois College of Law The University of Illinois College of Law (Illinois Law or UIUC Law) is the law school of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a public university in Champaign, Illinois. It was established in 1897 and offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S. ...

with honors. Cabonorgi worked as a lawyer. From 2002 to 2004, he worked at the law firm of Gardner Carton and Douglas LLP, where he concentrated on complex commercial litigation. During his time at this firm, he defended the City of Chicago in both federal and state litigation deriving from the closure of

Meigs Field Merrill C. Meigs Field Airport (pronounced , formerly ) was a single-runway airport in Chicago that was in operation from December 1948 until March 2003 on Northerly Island, an artificial peninsula on Lake Michigan. The airport sat adjacent to ...

. From 2004 to 2005, he worked at the law firm of Bell, Boyd, and Lloyd, LLC, where he concentrated on complex commercial and regulatory litigation. While working here, he was also appointed Special Assistant

Cook County State's Attorney The Cook County State's Attorney functions as the state of Illinois's district attorney for Cook County, Illinois, and heads the second-largest prosecutor's office in the United States. The office has over 700 attorneys and 1,100 employees. In ad ...

, defending the

Cook County Sheriff's Department The Cook County Sheriff's Office is the principal law enforcement agency that serves Cook County, Illinois. It is the second largest sheriff's department in the United States, with over 6,900 members when at full operational strength. It is heade ...

against claims of

police misconduct Police misconduct refers to inappropriate conduct and illegal actions taken by police officers in connection with their official duties. Types of misconduct include among others: false confession, coerced false confession, intimidation, false arre ...

. In 2000, Cabonargi received his

from the

with honors. From 2000 to 2002, Cabonargi worked as a law clerk to U.S. District Court judge William J. Hibbler. During his time in this position, he initiated and helped to establish the courts first help desk for pro se litigants. For this, he was given the Award for Excellence in Public Interest Service from the

Federal Bar Association The Federal Bar Association (FBA) is the primary voluntary professional organization for private and government lawyers and judges practicing and sitting in federal courts in the United States. Six times a year, The Association prints ''The Fede ...

and the U.S. District Court. From 2003 to 2005, he served on the

Illinois Comptroller The Comptroller of Illinois is a constitutional officer in the executive branch, executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Illinois. Ten individuals have held the office of Comptroller since the enactment of the Constitution of Illinois, ...

's Ethics Commission.

Work at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

From 2005 until 2011, Cabonargi worked as a senior attorney and prosecutor in the Division of Enforcement at the Chicago Regional Office of the

. He brought a $2.8 billion private offering fraud case, at the time the largest private offering fraud case filed by the Commission. For this he was bestowed the Chairman's Award. In 2008, for his work against financial fraud targeting seniors, he was bestowed the SEC Director's Award for Excellence.

Cook County Board of Review

Cabonargi was appointed by Chief Justice of the

Circuit Court of Cook County The Circuit Court of Cook County is the largest of the 24 judicial circuits in Illinois as well as one of the largest unified court systems in the United States — second only in size to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County since that court ...

Timothy C. Evans to serve as commissioner of

from the 2nd district, after the position was vacated by

Joseph Berrios Joseph "Joe" Berrios (born February 14, 1952) is a Democratic politician who was the Assessor and Chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party of Cook County, Illinois, as well as a registered Illinois state government lobbyist. He was the fir ...

, who had been elected

Cook County Assessor The Cook County Assessor is the assessor and county government officer of Cook County, Illinois. Office description Before the creation of the position of Cook County Assessor in 1932, the Cook County Board of Assessors completed assessments i ...

. Cabonargi had been selected over several other people who had also expressed interest in the position, including

Joseph Mario Moreno Joseph Mario Moreno was Commissioner for the 7th district of Cook County, Illinois from 1994 until 2010. Early life Moreno earned his law degree from DePaul University College of Law. Public service Prior to his election as a commissioner, ...

and

Eugene Schulter Gene Schulter (born November 14, 1947) was alderman of the 47th ward of the City of Chicago. He was first elected in 1975 and served until his retirement in 2011. Early life Schulter is the youngest of five children, all raised in Chicago. He a ...

. Evans had picked Cabornargi from among 11 candidates. Cabonargi was sworn-in on February 10, 2011. Cabonargi was reelected, unopposed, in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. In March 2018, Cabonargi's campaign was asked by the Board of Ethics to return $68,950 in funds received from 97 contributions that were in excess of limits. Cabonargi complied with the Board of Ethics ruling and returned the $68,950 in donations and cited the multiple changes in county reporting measures. In 2020, Cabonargi voiced disagreement with a notion expressed by former

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 as an elected office with a four-year term in August 1837. Prior to this, from 1831 to 18 ...

David Orr David Duvall Orr (born October 4, 1944) is an American Democratic politician who served as the Cook County Clerk from 1990 to 2018. Orr previously served as alderman for the 49th ward in Chicago City Council from 1979 to 1990. He briefly served ...

that the Cook County Board of Review has a "longtime

pay-to-play Pay-to-play, sometimes pay-for-play or P2P, is a phrase used for a variety of situations in which money is exchanged for services or the privilege to engage in certain activities. The common denominator of all forms of pay-to-play is that one mus ...

culture" and needed reform. Cabonargi said "the Board of Review has ethics protocols in place to ensure transparency and professionalism..." In 2022, Cabonargi lost his bid for reelection to the Cook County Board of Review. His loss to political newcomer Samantha Steele was considered an upset to the incumbent Cabonargi.

2020 Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County campaign

In 2020, Cabonargi ran to replace outgoing

Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County The Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County is the clerk of Circuit Court of Cook County, located in Cook County, Illinois. Office description On January 1, 1964, the circuit courts of Cook County were unified. Before this, there were more t ...

Dorothy A. Brown. Cabonargi received the endorsement of the

Cook County Democratic Party The Cook County Democratic Party is a political party which represents voters in 50 wards in the city of Chicago and 30 suburban townships of Cook County. The organization has dominated Chicago politics (and consequently, Illinois politics) sinc ...

. He also was endorsed by the

Chicago Federation of Labor The Chicago Federation of Labor (CFL) is an umbrella organization for unions in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is a subordinate body of the AFL–CIO, and as of 2011 has about 320 affiliated member unions representing half a million union members in C ...

and

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

He additionally received endorsements from Dick Durbin,

Toni Preckwinkle Toni Lynn Preckwinkle (née Reed; born March 17, 1947) is an American politician and the current County Board President in Cook County, Illinois, United States. She was first elected as President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, the e ...

, and Jesse White. Cabonargi pledged, if elected, to modernize the office. Meiseter filed an ethics complaint against Cabonargi in mid-January 2020 alleging that Cabonargi had accepted $120,000 in improper campaign donations from individuals who had argued property tax appeals before him at the Cook County Board of Review. Cabonargi's campaign claimed the allegations in the ethics complaint were false. Nothing ever came of the ethics violation because it was brought without merit and schemed by Jacob Meister. Cabonargi placed second, losing to Iris Martinez.

Regional Director of the Department of Health and Human Services

In early 2023, Cabornargi sent an email to colleagues within the Democratic Party to inform them that he would be departing his role in Illinois' State Democratic Central Committee in order to accept an appointment by President Joe Biden to serve as a regional director for the

. He was formally appointed to this role on March 13, 2023.

Democratic party leadership roles

In 2018, Cabonargi was elected as the Illinois Democratic state central committeeman for

Illinois's 9th congressional district The 9th congressional district of Illinois covers parts of Cook, Lake, and McHenry counties as of the 2021 redistricting which followed the 2020 census. All or parts of Chicago, Evanston, Glenview, Skokie, Morton Grove, Niles, Northfield, ...

. Per the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

s Rick Pearson, as of 2021, Cabonargi was one of the more politically

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

members of the Illinois Democratic State Central Committee. In 2019, Cabonargi was appointed a vice-chair of the

. In 2021, Cabonargi supported

Robin Kelly Robin Lynne Kelly (born April 30, 1956) is an American politician from Illinois who has served as the U.S. representative from since 2013. A Democrat, Kelly served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 2003 to 2007. She then served as ch ...

in her successful bid to become the chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois. Cabornargi was a delegate to both the

and

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

s. Ahead of the

2020 United States presidential election The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala Ha ...

, Cabonargi, with Chicago government affairs consultant Mike Alexander, organized for more than 120 lawyers and other legal professions to travel to the

swing state In American politics, the term swing state (also known as battleground state or purple state) refers to any state that could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican candidate in a statewide election, most often referring to pre ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, with the goal of helping to assist in enabling a potential victory for the Democratic presidential ticket of Joe Biden and

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...

in the state's vote. On January 27, 2023, Cabornargi departed his role as a state central committeeman in the Illinois' Democratic State Central Committee in order to accept the position of regional director for the Department Health and Human Services.

Other work

Cabonargi served on the local school council of the Brentano Elementary School from 2006 to 2008. From 2007 to 2009, he served on the 35th Ward's Zoning Advisory Committee. Cabonargi also formerly served as a member of the University of Illinois College of Law Alumni Board. Cabonargi was a member of

J. B. Pritzker Jay Robert "J. B." Pritzker (born January 19, 1965) is an American billionaire businessman, philanthropist, and politician serving as the List of governors of Illinois, 43rd governor of Illinois since 2019. A member of the wealthy Pritzker fami ...

's Governor Elect's Budget and Innovation Transition Committee. In 2012, Cabonargi was selected to be a fellow with Leadership Greater Chicago. Cabonargi serves as a board member of the

Bar Association, District 39 Educational Foundation, Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, and Milan Committee of Chicago’s Sister Cities Program. Cabonargi served as a

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Democratic

United States Electoral College The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

elector from Illinois, casting his votes for Joe Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice-president.

Personal life

Cabonargi is married to Erin Lavin Cabonargi and has two sons. His wife, Erin, once served as head of Chicago's Public Building Commission. She more recently served as director of construction at

Sterling Bay Sterling may refer to: Common meanings * Sterling silver, a grade of silver * Sterling (currency), the currency of the United Kingdom ** Pound sterling, the primary unit of that currency Places United Kingdom * Stirling, a Scottish city wh ...

, before leaving to start Hibernian Advisors and Hibernian Real Estate Development in 2018, a consulting firm and a development firm. In 2011, Cabonargi lived in the

Logan Square Logan Square may refer to: * Logan Square, Chicago, a neighborhood on the north side of the city * Logan Circle (Philadelphia) or Logan Square, a park in Philadelphia **Logan Square, Philadelphia Logan Square is a neighborhood in Philadelphia. Bou ...

neighborhood of Chicago. Cabonargi now lives in

Wilmette Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. Bordering Lake Michigan and Evanston, Illinois, it is located north of Chicago's downtown district. Wilmette had a population of 27,087 at the 2010 census. The ...

Electoral history

Cook County Board of Review

;

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Illinois Democratic State Central Committeeman for the ninth congressional district

Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabonargi, Michael Illinois Democrats Members of the Cook County Board of Review 1971 births University of Illinois alumni Miami University alumni People from Wilmette, Illinois Politicians from Chicago Lawyers from Chicago Living people 2020 United States presidential electors