The
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 5, 2002.
Primaries were held on March 19, 2002.
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 ...
, three 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
2002 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 36.69%. The city of
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 ...
saw 39.87% turnout and suburban Cook County saw 33.40% turnout.
General election
The general election saw 52.12% turnout, with 1,423,403 ballots cast. Chicago saw 53.16% turnout and suburban Cook County saw 51.09% turnout.
Assessor
In the 2002 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 first appointed in 1997 who was reelected in 1998, was again reelected.
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
General election
Clerk
In the 2002 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 third-term Clerk David Orr, a Democrat, was reelected.
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
General election
Sheriff
In the 2002 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 third-term Sheriff Michael F. Sheahan, a Democrat, was reelected.
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
General election
Treasurer
In the 2002 Cook County Treasurer election, incumbent first-term Treasurer 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 ...
, a Democrat, was reelected.
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
General election
President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners
In the 2002 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 second-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.
Stroger was only the forth person ever to win three elections for president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners.
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
General election
Cook County Board of Commissioners
The 2002 Cook County Board of Commissioners election
The 2002 Cook County Board of Commissioners election was held on November 5, 2002. It was preceded by a primary election held on March 19, 2002. It coincided with other 2002 Cook County, Illinois, elections (including the election for president ...
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.
Cook County Board of Review
In the 2002 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, two Democratic-held and one Republican-held, were up for election.
Beginning with the 2002 elections, the Cook County Board of Review has had its three seats rotate the length of terms. In a staggered fashion (in which no two seats have coinciding two-year terms), the seats rotate between two consecutive four-year terms and a two-year term.
As this was 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 member Maureen Murphy, a Republican, was reelected, being unopposed in both the Republican primary and general election. This election was to a four-year term.
Primaries
=Democratic
=
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Democratic primary.[ The Democratic Party ultimately nominated Brendan F. Houlihan.][
]
=Republican
=
General election
2nd district
Incumbent first-term member 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 Democrat, was reelected, running unopposed in both the Democratic primary and the general election. Berrios had not only served since the Board of Review was constituted in 1998, but had also served on its predecessor organization, the Cook County Board of (Tax) Appeals, for ten years. This election was to a four-year term.
Primaries
=Democratic
=
=Republican
=
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.[
]
General election
3rd district
Incumbent first-term member Robert Shaw, a Democrat, was reelected. This election was to a two-year term.
Primaries
=Democratic
=
=Republican
=
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.[
]
General election
Water Reclamation District Board
In the 2006 Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago election, three of the nine seats on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago board were up for election in 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 ...
race. Since three six-year seats were up for election, voters could vote for up to three candidates and the top-three finishers would win.
Two Democratic incumbents Kathy Meany and Cynthia Santos, won reelection. They were joined in being elected by fellow Democrat Frank Avila. One Democratic incumbent, Martin Sandoval, had withdrawn ahead of the Democratic primary.
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.
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
* 2002 Illinois elections
Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 5, 2002. Primary elections were held on March 19, 2002.
The Democratic Party made gains in these elections, while the Republican Party conversely saw losses. The Democratic Party retained th ...
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 2002