Bridget Gainer


Bridget Gainer is a Cook County Commissioner, representing the County’s 10th district. She has served as Commissioner since 2009 for the 10th district, which includes many of Chicago’s north side neighborhoods. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

Bio

Gainer was born and raised in the Beverly neighborhood on Chicago's south side. In 1990, she graduated from University of Illinois with a bachelor of arts in English and political science. Afterwards, she moved to New York City to work as a community organizer with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.
She moved back to Chicago in 1994 to continue her work as community organizer to work with local community members to keep schools open later in the day for after-school programming. From there, Gainer worked as a budget analyst in Chicago's City Hall. She then went on to work for the Park District as the Director of the Lakefront Parks.
Gainer later went on to join Aon in a financial role and continues to work for Aon today.
Gainer has an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.
Gainer is married to Dennis Kibby and has three children.Bridget Gainer#cite note-May 23 Interview-1|

Political career

Gainer was initially appointed to the seat in April 2009 to replace former commissioner Mike Quigley, who won the special election to fill former Congressman Rahm Emanuel's seat when Emanuel left Congress to become White House Chief of Staff to President Obama. In 2010, Gainer defeated her Republican opponent in the November 2010 election and won a four-year term. In March of 2018, Gainer won her primary election against her opponent.
As commissioner she ensured the CCLBA works independently from the Cook County Board earning revenue from the property sales and reinvesting into the budget to provide an infrastructure to provide additional resources for first-time home buyers and small neighborhood developers. Since the program began, 400 homes have been purchased and rehabbed.Bridget Gainer#cite note-4|
In 2015, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Gainer founded a Chicago chapter of Off the Sidelines, a civic impact organization for women which gained over 3,000 members.Bridget Gainer#cite note-8|
In 2017, Off the Sidelines Chicago was renamed Cause the Effect Chicago.Bridget Gainer#cite note-10|

Controversies

Despite mulling a bid for Chicago mayor since Richard M. Daley's retirement in 2011, Gainer ultimately took her name out of the race for mayor in the 2019 election. She had also come under scrutiny for her driving record and attendance at legislative sessions. Over her tenure on the County Board Gainer missed 32% of County Board meetings and 38% of Forest Preserve meetings.
In November 2018, Chicago public radio station WBEZ sued Cook County in relation to e-mails the government would not release as part of a FOIA.