elections
Democratic primary win a cakewalk for Schakowsky in 9th Congressional District
Simon Ribeiro has twice before filed for the 9th Congressional District seat held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Janice D. Schakowsky, once as a Republican and once as a Green Party candidate. But this was the first time Ribeiro, now 30, challenged the popular liberal in …
District 31 referendum wins by solid margin
On a night when five of six school referendums went down to defeat, voters in West Northfield District 31 approved an increase in the district’s maximum tax rate that is expected to generate about $1.55 million a year in new revenue and head off a third year of program cuts. With all 10 precincts reporting the referendum passed with more than 56 percent of the vote. Unofficial returns showed it with 1,399 votes in favor of the tax increase and 1,096 votes against it.
Results show light election day turnout in Cook County
Representatives of Cook County Clerk David Orr’s office said voter turnout Tuesday was “very light” and there were no major voting problems during the day.
Brown, Munoz battle over who best to modernize circuit courts
Three blocks away in federal court in downtown Chicago, everything is computerized. But in the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court’s office, lawyers say it’s still 1960. Paper and carbon rule. Only 3 percent of cases are filed online.
Supreme Court: 4 battle for Supreme Court seat
The March 20 race for a vacancy on the Illinois Supreme Court might be more important than any other on the ballot. The state’s highest court settles matters that can reach into communities throughout Illinois. For example, the court’s seven justices decided whether Rahm Emanuel …
Four Democratic contenders in 10th District spell out positions
Four Democratic contenders are on the ballot for the redrawn 10th Congressional District with hopes of defeating incumbent U.S. Rep. Robert Dold, (R-10th) of Kenilworth, who has represented the district in Washington D.C. since 2011. Campaigning heavily for months in hopes of becoming the Democratic …
State Senate: Political veteran battles 1st-time office-seeker in 29th District Democratic race
One has to go back a decade to find a truly competitive election for the 29th Senate District, a North Shore district represented since then by state Sen. Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest). Garrett’s looming departure, after an impressive legislative run, has created a political vacuum …
State House: What Republican brand goes best in the 58th District?
Illinois’ 58th House District encompasses some of Chicago’s most affluent northern suburbs, including Deerfield, Lake Forest, Highland Park and Glencoe. Redistricting here was minimal, stretching the district’s boundaries a bit further north to include the Naval base. The demographics remain largely unchanged.
Despite pockets of …
Ald. Ricardo Munoz challenging Dorothy Brown for court clerk
The most prominent Cook County primary race this year is for an office that generally is low-profile: clerk of the Circuit Court. Chicago Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd), who has been on the City Council since 1993, is challenging three-term incumbent Dorothy Brown, also of Chicago. At the heart of the race is what many rank-and-file lawyers privately regard as a scandal: the office’s inefficiency in handling court records and the frequency with which key documents go missing. One Chicago politician jokes that the office is so antiquated that it’s the largest consumer of carbon paper anywhere.
10th District candidates debate college affordability, taxes
An audience jam-packed mostly with teens welcomed three of the four Democratic candidates in the 10th Congressional District race Wednesday night at Stevenson High School. Stevenson’s Political Action Club teamed up with students from the Mikva Challenge, a civics-minded group in Cook County, to organize …
Two Republicans face off in the Cook County Board of Review District One
Dan Patlak says he’s the “firewall” on the Cook County Board of Review who keeps the dominant Democrats from engaging in unchecked favoritism. But Sean M. Morrison says the real firewall the board needs is one that would separate Patlak from campaign contributions given by …
Six Democrats float names for Water District
There is no shortage of candidates in this year’s Democratic primary who say they want to help keep the Chicago region’s water clean and out of your basement. Six are vying for three spots on the Democratic ballot for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. The three party-backed candidates — incumbent Debra Shore, Kari K. Steele and Patrick Daley Thompson — are squaring off against incumbent Patricia Horton, Stella B. Black and Patricia Young.
Four Democrats face off for chance against Dold in 10th District
Democrats in the 10th Congressional District have an enviable problem: No matter whom they vote for in the March primary, they’ll be voting against several other highly credible candidates. It’s the kind of solid field that a party on the outs in a district sometimes produces when it smells blood. The 10th has been redrawn to include more Democratic turf — 61 percent of the new district’s voters went for Barack Obama in 2008 — making incumbent Republican Bob Dold more vulnerable in November.
Political novice takes on Schakowsky in safe district
In the 2010 general election, liberal Democrat Rep. Jan Schakowsky was opposed for re-election by a real scrapper on the right, Joel Pollak, as well as by a mild-mannered Green Party candidate, Simon Ribeiro.
Political handicappers thought Pollak, who did his best to paint Schakowsky …
