1998 Cook County, Illinois Elections
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Cook County, Illinois Cook County is the List of counties in Illinois, most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the List of the most populous counties in the United States, second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, C ...
, general election was held on November 3, 1998. Primaries were held on March 17, 1998. Elections were held for Assessor,
Clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...
,
Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...
,
Treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...
,
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 ...
, all 17 seats of 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 ...
, all 3 seats 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, which includes Chicago, is the ...
, 4 seats on the Water Reclamation District Board, and judgeships on the
Circuit Court of Cook County The Circuit Court of Cook County is the largest of the 25 Illinois circuit courts, circuit courts (trial courts of original jurisdiction, original and general jurisdiction) in the judiciary of Illinois as well as one of the largest unified cour ...
.


Election information

1998 was a
midterm election Apart from general elections and by-elections, a midterm election refers to a type of election where the people can elect their representatives and other subnational officeholders (e.g. governor, members of local council) in the middle of the t ...
year in the United States. The primaries and general elections for Cook County races coincided with those for federal (
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
and
House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...
) and those for state elections.


Voter turnout


Primary election

Voter turnout in Cook County during the primaries was 28.68%. On its own, suburban Cook County saw 23.95% turnout.


General election

The general election saw 54.61% turnout, with 1,433,423 ballots cast. Chicago saw 752,506 ballots cast while suburban Cook County saw 53.95% turnout (with 680,917 ballots cast).


Assessor

In the 1998
Cook County Assessor The Cook County Assessor is the Assessor (property), 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 com ...
election, incumbent assessor James Houlihan, a Democrat, was elected to his first full-term. Houlihan had been appointed to the office in 1997, after Thomas Hynes (who had served as Cook County assessor since 1978) opted to resign from the office.


Primaries


Democratic


Republican


General election


Clerk

In the 1998
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 ...
election, incumbent second-term clerk
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 serve ...
, a Democrat, was reelected.


Primaries


Democratic


Republican


General election


Sheriff

In the 1998
Cook County Sheriff The Cook County Sheriff is the sheriff of Cook County, Illinois, heading the Cook County Sheriff's Office. Office description Terms are currently four-years in length. Officeholders Election results , - , colspan=21 style="text-align:cent ...
election, incumbent second-term sheriff Michael F. Sheahan, a Democrat, was reelected.


Primaries


Democratic


Republican

Former
Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department The following is a list of heads of the Chicago Police Department. Currently the executive of the Chicago Police Department is referred to as a "Superintendent of Police". Preceding titles included High Constable, City Marshall, General Superint ...
LeRoy Martin won the Republican primary.


General election


Treasurer

In the 1998
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 ...
election, incumbent sixth-term treasurer Edward J. Rosewell, a Democrat, did not seek reelection after having been
indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offense is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use that concept often use that of an indi ...
over a ghost jobs scheme (for which he would ultimately plead guilty).
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 ...
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 ...
was elected to succeed him.


Primaries


Democratic


Republican


General election


President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners

In the 1998
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 ...
election, incumbent first-term president
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

Incumbent John H. Stroger, Jr. defeated Cook County commissioner Calvin R. Sutker.


Republican

Clerk of the
Circuit Court of Cook County The Circuit Court of Cook County is the largest of the 25 Illinois circuit courts, circuit courts (trial courts of original jurisdiction, original and general jurisdiction) in the judiciary of Illinois as well as one of the largest unified cour ...
Aurelia Pucinski Aurelia Marie Pucinski (born April 29, 1947) is a judge on the Illinois Appellate Court for the First District. She previously served as a trial judge and clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Her second term expires in 2030. Early life Bor ...
left the Democratic Party and joined the Republican party in December 1997 to run as its nominee for President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners.


General election


Cook County Board of Commissioners

The 1998 Cook County Board of Commissioners election saw all seventeen seats of the Cook County Board of Commissioners up for election to four-year terms.


Cook County Board of Review

In the 1998
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, which includes Chicago, is the ...
election, all three seats were up for election. This was the first election for what would be a newly reconstituted body. In 1996, the
Illinois Legislature The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 181 ...
successfully passed Public Act 89-671, which made it so that, in 1998, the Cook County Board of Appeals would be renamed Cook County Board of Review and be reconstituted as a three-member body. All elections held in 1998 were for four-year terms.


1st district

Republican Maureen Murphy defeated Democrat David McAfee.


Primaries


=Democratic

=


=Republican

=


General election


2nd district

Joseph Berrios Joseph "Joe" Berrios (born February 14, 1952) is an American 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. H ...
a ten incumbent on the predecessor organization, the Cook County Board of (Tax) Appeals, was elected, running unopposed in both the Democratic primary and general election.


Primaries


=Democratic

=


=Republican

= No candidates ran in the Republican primary.


General election


3rd district

Robert Shaw, a Democrat, was elected.


Primaries


=Democratic

=


=Republican

= No candidates ran in the Republican primary.


General election


Water Reclamation District Board

In the 1998 Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago election, four of the nine seats on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago board were up for election. Three were regularly scheduled elections, and one was a special election due to a vacancy. Democrats won all four seats up for election. Democratic incumbents Gloria Alitto Majewski and Patricia Young were reelected in the at-large election.


At-large election

Three six-year term seats were up for an
at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...
election. Since three six-year seats were up for election, voters could vote for up to three candidates, and the top-three finishers would win.


Primaries


=Democratic

=


=Republican

=


General election


Unexpired term

A special election was held to fill a seat left vacant.


Primaries


=Democratic

=


=Republican

=


General election


Judicial elections

Partisan elections were held for judgeships on the Circuit Court of Cook County, due to vacancies. Other judgeships had
retention election A retention election or retention referendum is a referendum where voters are asked if an office holder, usually a judge, should be allowed to continue in that office. The judge is removed from office if a majority of votes are cast against rete ...
s. Partisan elections were also held for subcircuit courts judgeships due to vacancies. Other judgeships had retention elections.


Ballot questions

One
ballot question A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or advis ...
was included on ballots county-wide during the March primary election.


Managed Care Act advisory referendum

An advisory referendum was included on the March primary ballots on the Managed Care Act.


Other elections

Coinciding with the primaries, elections were held to elect both the Democratic and Republican
committeemen 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 ...
for the suburban
township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...
s.


See also

*
1998 Illinois elections Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 3, 1998. Partisan primary, Primary elections were held on March 17, 1998. These elections saw Democratic Party (United States), Democrats make gains. The Democratic Party went from holding no ...


References

{{Cook County Board of Review, state=collapsed
Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...
Cook County, Illinois elections Cook County 1998