The 2010 Cook County Board of Commissioners election was held on November 2, 2010. It was preceded by a primary election held on February 5, 2010. It coincided with other 2010 Cook County, Illinois, elections (including the election for president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners). It saw all seventeen seats of the Cook County Board of Commissioners up for election to four-year terms.
The Democratic Party ran candidates in races for all seventeen seats, while the Republican Party contested eleven seats. The Green Party contested ten races (an increase from the single seat they contested in 2006). Democrats increased their majority, flipping a control of a previously-Republican seat. However, Democrats also saw a more than 9-point decline in their share of the cumulative popular vote: with Republicans and Greens each seeing a more than 4.5-point increase.
Background The previous elections to the board had been held in 2006. The 2006 elections had been a wave election for Democrats nationally. The 2010 elections, by contrast, were a wave election for the Republicans nationally, with impacts of that wave seen in Illinois elections.
1st district
Incumbent third-term Commissioner Earlean Collins, a Democrat, was reelected.
Primaries Democratic
Republican No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.
Green
General election
2nd district
Incumbent first-term commissioner Robert Steele, a Democrat, was reelected.
Primaries Democratic
Republican No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.
Green
General election
3rd district
Incumbent Commissioner Jerry Butler, a Democrat who first assumed the office in 1985, was reelected.
Primaries Democratic
Republican No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.
Green No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Green primary. The Green Party ultimately nominated Marie J. "Jenny" Wohadlo.
General election
4th district
Incumbent first-term Commissioner William Beavers, a Democrat, was reelected.
Primaries Democratic
Republican No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.
Green
General election
5th district
Incumbent fourth-term Commissioner Deborah Sims, a Democrat, was reelected.
Primaries Democratic
Republican
Green No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Green primary.
General election
6th district
Incumbent second-term Commissioner Joan Patricia Murphy, a Democrat, was reelected.
Primaries Democratic
Republican Sandra Czyznikiewicz defeated former 6th district Commissioner William Moran and Michael Hawkins in the Republican primary.
Green No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Green primary.
General election
7th district
Incumbent fifth-term Commissioner Joseph Mario Moreno, a Democrat, lost reelection, being unseated in the Democratic primary by Jesús "Chuy" García, who went on to win the general election.
Primaries Democratic
Republican No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.
Green
General election
8th district
Incumbent Commissioner Edwin Reyes, a Democrat, who been appointed in 2009 after Roberto Maldonado resigned to serve a Chicago alderman, was elected to a full term.
Primaries Democratic
Republican No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.
Green No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Green primary.
General election
9th district
Incumbent fourth-term Commissioner Peter N. Silvestri, a Republican, was reelected.
Primaries Democratic
Republican
Green
General election
10th district
Incumbent Commissioner Bridget Gainer, a Democrat first appointed in 2009 (to fill the vacancy left after Mike Quigley resigned to assume office as the United States congressman), was elected to a full term.
Primaries Democratic
Republican No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary. The Republican Party ultimately nominated Wes Fowler.
Green No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.
General election
11th district
Incumbent Commissioner John P. Daley, a Democrat in office since 1992, was reelected.
Primaries Democratic
Republican
Green No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.
General election
12th district
Incumbent second-term Commissioner Forrest Claypool, a Democrat, did not seek reelection. John Fritchey was elected to succeed him.
Primaries Democratic
Republican No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary. The Republican Party ultimately nominated William C. "Bill" Miceli.
Green No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Green primary.
General election
13th district
Incumbent second-term Commissioner Larry Suffredin, a Democrat, was reelected.
Primaries Democratic
Republican
Green
General election
14th district
Incumbent third-term Commissioner Gregg Goslin, a Republican, was reelected.
Primaries Democratic
Republican
Green No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Green primary.
General election
15th district
Incumbent first-term Commissioner Tim Schneider, a Republican, was reelected.
Primaries Democratic
Republican
Green No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Green primary. The Green Party ultimately nominated Laura Ehorn.
General election
16th district
Incumbent second-term Commissioner Tony Peraica, a Republican, lost reelection to Democrat Jeff Tobolski.
Primaries Democratic
Republican
Green
General election
17th district
Incumbent second-term Commissioner Elizabeth Ann Doody Gorman, a Republican, was reelected.
Primaries Democratic
Republican
Green
General election
Summarizing statistics + Contest summary Party Seats held before Seats contested Seats won Democratic 12 17 13 Republican 5 11 4 Green 0 10 0
+ Contests by parties contesting Parties contesting Total Democratic wins Republicans wins Seats contested by Democratic, Republican, and Green nominees 5 2 3 Seats contested by Democratic and Republican nominees (no Green) 6 5 1 Seats contested by Democratic and Green nominees (no Republican) 5 5 Seats contested only by Democratic nominees 1
+ Vote summary Party Popular vote Seats won Democratic 875,019 (67.30%) 13 Republican 356,573 (27.42%) 4 Green 68,644 (5.28%) 0 Total 1,300,236
+ Fate of incumbents Party Total incumbents Incumbents that sought reelection/retired Incumbents that won/lost re-nomination in primaries Incumbents that won/lost general election Democratic 12 11 sought reelection1 retired 10 won re-nomination1 lost renomination 10 won0 lost Republican 5 5 sought reelection0 retired 5 won re-nomination0 lost renomination 4 won1 lost Green No Green incumbents
+ Composition of elected board (returning/newly elected members) Party Returning members Newly elected members Democratic 10 3 Republican 4 0
References