2006 Cook County, Illinois elections
The Cook County, Illinois general election was held on November 7, 2006.
Primaries were held March 21, 2006.
Elections were held for Cook County Assessor, Cook County Clerk, Cook County Sheriff, Cook County Treasurer, President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, all 17 seats of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, Cook County Board of Review districts 1 and 2, three seats on the Water Reclamation District Board, judgeships in the Circuit Court of Cook County.
Election information
2006 was a midterm election year in the United States. The primaries and general elections for Cook County races coincided with those for congressional and those for state elections.Voter turnout
Voter turnout in Cook County during the primaries was 31.67%, with 860,941 ballots cast. Among these, 713,040 Democratic, 141,476 Republican, 80 Green, 80 Libertarian, 6 Honesty & Integrity, and 6,256 nonpartisan primary ballots were cast. The city of Chicago saw 38.58% turnout and suburban Cook County saw 25.00% turnout.The general election saw 49.85% turnout, with 1,350,918 ballots cast. The city of Chicago saw 49.25% turnout and suburban Cook County saw 50.45% turnout.
Assessor
In the 2006 Cook County Assessor election, incumbent second-term Assessor James Houlihan, a Democrat, was reelected.Primaries
Democratic
Republican
General election
Clerk
In the 2006 Cook County Clerk election, incumbent fourth-term Clerk David Orr, a Democrat, was reelected.Primaries
Democratic
Republican
General election
Sheriff
In the 2006 Cook County Sheriff election, incumbent fourth-term Sheriff Michael F. Sheahan, a Democrat, did not seek reelection. Democrat Tom Dart was elected to succeed him.Primaries
Democratic
Republican
General election
Treasurer
In the 2006 Cook County Treasurer election, incumbent second-term Treasurer Maria Pappas, a Democrat, was reelected.Primaries
Democratic
Republican
General election
President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners
In the 2006 President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners election, incumbent President Todd Stroger, a Democrat appointed following the resignation of his father John Stroger, was elected to a full term. Originally, then-incumbent John Stroger had been running for reelection, winning the Democratic primary, before backing-out and also resigning from the presidency.Primaries
Democratic
Republican
General election
Suffering health ailments, John Stroger was removed from the ticket in June and replaced by his son Todd Stroger. John Stroger retired in August, and Bobbie L. Steele was appointed to fill out the remainder of his term.Cook County Board of Commissioners
The 2006 Cook County Board of Commissioners election saw all seventeen seats of the Cook County Board of Commissioners up for election to four-year terms.Fifteen members were reelected. One incumbent Democrat withdrew from their election after being renominated, while one incumbent Republican lost his primary. No seat changed parties.
1st district
Incumbent second-term Commissioner Earlean Collins, a Democrat, was reelected.Primaries
Democratic
Republican
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary. The Republican Party ultimately nominated Henrietta S. Butler.General election
2nd district
Incumbent commissioner Robert Steele, a Democrat, was reelected. He had been appointed to succeed his mother Bobbie L. Steele, after they were appointed President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners.Primaries
Democratic
Republican
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary. The Republican Party ultimately nominated Scott W. Kummer.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. The Republican Party ultimately nominated Maurice Perkins.General election
4th district
Then-incumbent Commissioner John Stroger originally sought reelection, winning the Democratic primary, but backed-out due to health issues, and was replaced as Democratic nominee by William Beavers, who went to win the general election.Primaries
Democratic
Republican
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary. Ultimately, the Republican Party nominated Ann Rochelle Hunter.General election
5th district
Incumbent third-term Commissioner Deborah Sims, a Democrat, was reelected.Primaries
Democratic
Republican
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.General election
6th district
Incumbent first-term Commissioner Joan Patricia Murphy, a Democrat, was reelected.Primaries
Democratic
Republican
General election
7th district
Incumbent fifth-term Commissioner Joseph Mario Moreno, a Democrat, was reelected.Primaries
Democratic
Republican
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.General election
8th district
Incumbent third-term Commissioner Roberto Maldonado, a Democrat, was reelected.Primaries
Democratic
Republican
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.General election
9th district
Incumbent third-term Commissioner Peter N. Silvestri, a Republican, was reelected.Primaries
Democratic
Republican
General election
10th district
Incumbent second-term Commissioner Mike Quigley, a Democrat, was reelected, running unopposed in both the Democratic primary and general election.Primaries
Democratic
Republican
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
General election
12th district
Incumbent first-term Commissioner Forrest Claypool, a Democrat, was reelected.Primaries
Democratic
Republican
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.General election
13th district
Incumbent first-term Commissioner Larry Suffredin, a Democrat, was reelected, running unopposed in both the Democratic primary and general election.Primaries
Democratic
Republican
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.General election
14th district
Incumbent second-term Commissioner Gregg Goslin, a Republican, was reelected.Primaries
Democratic
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Democratic primary. The Democratic Party ultimately nominated Michelene "Mickie" Polk.Republican
General election
15th district
Incumbent eighth-term Commissioner Carl Hansen, a Republican, sought reelection, but was defeated in the Republican primary by Tim Schneider, who went on to win the general election.Primaries
Democratic
Republican
General election
16th district
Incumbent first-term Commissioner Tony Peraica, a Republican, was reelected.Primaries
Democratic
Republican
General election
17th district
Incumbent first-term Commissioner Elizabeth Ann Doody Gorman, a Republican, was reelected.Primaries
Democratic
Republican
General election
Cook County Board of Review
In the 2006 Cook County Board of Review election, two seats, one Democratic-held and one Republican-held, out of its three seats were up for election.The Cook County Board of Review has its three seats rotate the length of terms. In a staggered fashion, the seats rotate between two consecutive four-year terms and a two-year term.
1st district
Incumbent second-term member Maureen Murphy, a Republican last reelected in 2002, lost reelection to Democrat Brendan F. Houlihan. 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 second-term member Joseph Berrios, a Democrat last reelected in 2002, was reelected. 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 Appeals, for ten years. 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 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.Incumbent commissioner, Democrat Terrence J. O'Brien, was reelected. Winners also included newly-elected Democrats Debra Shore and Patricia Horton. The two incumbents who did not seek reelection were James Harris and Harry "Bus" Yourell.
Primaries
Democratic
Republican
No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.General election
Judicial elections
Partisan elections were held for 27 judgeships on the Circuit Court of Cook County, due to vacancies. Other judgeships had retention elections.Partisan elections were also held for 15 subcircuit courts judgeships due to vacancies. Other judgeships had retention elections.