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 6, 2012.
Primaries were held March 20, 2012.
Elections were held for
Clerk of the Circuit Court,
Recorder of Deeds
Recorder of deeds or deeds registry is a government office tasked with maintaining public records and documents, especially records relating to real estate ownership that provide persons other than the owner of a property with real rights ove ...
,
State's Attorney
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...
, all three seats on the
Board of Review, 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
2012 was a
presidential election year in the United States. The primaries and general elections for Cook County races coincided with those for federal races (
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
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
Voter turnout in Cook County during the primaries was 24.03%, with 644,701 ballots cast. Among these, 440,873
Democratic, 200,750
Republican, 112
Green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...
, and 2,966 nonpartisan primary ballots were cast.
[ 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 24.46% turnout, its lowest turnout for a presidential primary on record (with the records dating back to 1942).[ Suburban Cook County saw 23.63% turnout.]
Clerk of the Circuit Court
In the 2012 Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County
The Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County is the Court clerk, clerk of Circuit Court of Cook County, located in Cook County, Illinois.
Office description
The office was first established in 1831, the year that Cook County was created. In 18 ...
election, incumbent third-term Clerk Dorothy A. Brown, a Democrat, was reelected.
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.
General election
Recorder of Deeds
In the 2012 Cook County Recorder of Deeds election, incumbent Recorder of Deeds Eugene Moore, a Democrat, did not seek reelection. Moore had served as Recorder of Deeds since 1999. Karen Yarbrough was elected to succeed him.
Primaries
Democratic
=Republican
=
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.
General election
State's Attorney
In the 2012 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 ...
election, incumbent first-term State's Attorney 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 ...
, a Democrat, was reelected.
Only Democrats had held this office ever since Richard A. Devine unseated Republican Jack O'Malley in 1996
1996 was designated as:
* International Year for the Eradication of Poverty
Events January
* January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
.
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.
General election
Cook County Board of Review
In the 2012 Cook County Board of Review election, all three seats, two Democratic-held and one Republican-held, were up for election. All incumbents won reelection.
The Cook County Board of Review has 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.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 Dan Patlak, a Republican first elected in 2010, was reelected. This election was to a four-year term.
Primaries
=Democratic
=
=Republican
=
General election
2nd district
Incumbent member Michael Cabonargi, a Democrat appointed in 2011 after 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 ...
resigned to assume office as Cook County Assessor, was reelected to a full term, running unopposed in both the Democratic primary and general election. 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 second-term member Larry Rogers, Jr., a Democrat, was reelected, running unopposed in both the Democratic primary and general election. Rogers had last been reelected in 2008. 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 2012 Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD), originally known as the Sanitary District of Chicago, is a special-purpose district chartered to operate in Cook County, Illinois, since 1889. Although its name may imply oth ...
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 ...
election.
Incumbent Democrats Debra Shore and Patricia Horton sought reelection. Horton failed to garner renomination, thus losing reelection.
Shore won reelection. Joining Shore in winning the general election were Democrats Kari K. Steele and Patrick Daley Thompson
Patrick Daley Thompson (born July 8, 1969) is an American former politician and convicted felon who most recently served as an alderman from Chicago's 11th ward and was previously a commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of ...
.
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
General election
Judicial elections
12 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 ...
were up for partisan elections due to vacancies.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.
23 subcircuit court judgeships were also up for partisan elections due to vacancies.
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 wards 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 ...
.
See also
* 2012 Illinois elections
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 2012