2020 Cook County, Illinois, elections

The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 3, 2020. Elections were held for Clerk of the Circuit Court, State's Attorney, Cook County Board of Review district 1, three seats on the Water Reclamation District Board, and judgeships on the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Primary elections, held using the open primary system, took place on March 17, 2020.

Election information The primaries and general elections for Cook County races coincided with those for federal races (President, House, and Senate) and those for state elections.

Voter turnout

Primary election For the primaries, turnout was 33.54%, with 1,037,951 ballots cast. The ballots cast comprised 957,791 Democratic, 79,669 Republican, and 491 nonpartisan primary ballots. Turnout in the city of Chicago was 37.78%, while turnout in suburban Cook County was 29.42%.

Turnout in the primaries was considered to be low for a presidential primary. The low turnout was attributed by many to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The potentially suppressed turnout of election-day voting as a result of virus concerns was partially offset by high in-person early voting and mail-in ballot numbers. 339,000 people cast early votes, a record number, with Chicago seeing 172,000, and the rest of Cook County seeing 167,000 early votes, a record for each jurisdiction. The election also saw a record number of requests made for mail-in ballots, with both Chicago and the rest of Cook County seeing numbers of requests surpassing any previous election. In Chicago there were 118,000 such requests, with over 80,000 mail-in ballots ultimately being returned and counted. In suburban Cook County, 47,652 mail-in ballots were returned, setting a record. In Chicago, 45% of votes cast were either early votes or votes by mail. In suburban Cook County, 56% of votes cast were either early votes or votes by mail.

The county's turnout was higher than the statewide turnout rate of 28.36%.

General election For the general election, turnout was 72.20%, with 2,349,010 ballots cast. Turnout in the city of Chicago was 73.28%, while turnout in suburban Cook County was 71.18%.

The county, as a whole, saw a turnout that was slightly below the statewide turnout rate of 72.92%.

Clerk of the Circuit Court

The incumbent fifth-term clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Dorothy Brown, announced in 2019 that she would not run for re-election. Brown had been the subject of a federal corruption investigation when she made the announcement. Democrat Iris Martinez was elected to succeed her.

The last Republican to hold this office was Brown's immediate predecessor Aurelia Pucinski, who, while elected a Democrat in each of her elections to the office, had switched parties in her final term.

Primaries Democratic Candidates The following candidates ran for the Democratic Party nomination for Clerk of the Circuit Court: CandidateExperienceCampaignRefMichael CabonargiMember of Cook County Board of Review for the 2nd districtWebsiteRichard BoykinFormer member of Cook County Board of Commissioners for the 1st districtWebsiteIris MartinezIllinois State Senator for the 20th districtJacob MeisterCivil rights lawyerCandidate for Clerk of the Cook County Circuit Court in 2016Candidate for U.S. Senate in 2010Website

Withdrew Theresa Siaw, candidate for 29th ward alderman in 2019 Mariyana Spyropoulos, member of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Board of Commissioners Todd Stroger, former president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners –withdrew amid challenge to his ballot petitions

Results

Republican Candidates The following candidates ran for the Republican party nomination for Clerk of the Circuit Court: CandidateExperienceCampaignRefBarbara Ruth BellarCandidate for Illinois State Senate in 2012Candidate for Illinois House of Representatives in 2010

Write-in candidates Richard Mayers, perennial candidate and alleged white supremacist, write-in candidate for Chicago Mayor, City Clerk, Treasurer, and alderman in 2019; congressional candidate in 2000, 2002, 2008, 2016, 2018, and 2020; 1998 State House candidate; 1993 Berwyn city clerk and city treasurer candidate; write-in candidate for U.S. Senator in 2020; write-in candidate in 2020 Illinois Republican presidential primary

Results

General election

Martinez's 73.03% share of the vote was the most that any candidate had received for this office since the 2004. Bellar's 26.97% vote share was the worst performance by a major party (Democratic or Republican) nominee since that same election.

State's Attorney

Incumbent Cook County state's attorney Kim Foxx won reelection to a second term.

Foxx defeated three opponents in the Democratic primary and Republican Pat O'Brien in the general election.

Only Democrats have held this office ever since Richard A. Devine unseated Republican Jack O'Malley in 1996.

Primaries Democratic Incumbent Kim Foxx faced three opponents in the, two former Assistant State's Attorneys, Bill Conway and Donna More, and former Chicago alderman Bob Fioretti.

The money spent in the Democratic primary made this the most expensive State's Attorney election in Cook County to date. Conway raised $11.9 million in campaign funds, most of which was from his father William E. Conway's cumulative donations of $10.5 million. Foxx raised $2.8 million, and her biggest donors include Fred Eychaner and the political action committee of SEIU Illinois.Foxx's campaign committee was created prior to her previous run for the office in the 2016 election. This amount counts all donations received by the committee after December 1, 2016, when Foxx first took office. More raised $406,000 and Fioretti raised $20,000.Fioretti's campaign committee had been active for several of his prior runs for office. This amount counts all donations received by the committee since April 2019, after the end of the 2019 Chicago mayoral election where Fioretti last ran for office.

Candidates The following candidates ran for the Democratic Party nomination for State's Attorney: CandidateExperienceCampaignRefBill ConwayFormer Navy Intelligence officerFormer Cook County Assistant State's AttorneyWebsiteBob FiorettiFormer Chicago alderman for the 2nd wardCandidate for Mayor of Chicago in the 2015 and 2019 electionsCandidate for Cook County Board President in 2018Candidate for Illinois State Senate in 2016Website Kim FoxxIncumbentFormer Chief of Staff for Cook County Board PresidentFormer Cook County Assistant State's AttorneyWebsiteDonna MoreCandidate for Cook County State's Attorney in 2016Former U.S. Attorney and Cook County Assistant State's AttorneyWebsite

Results

General election Results

Kim Fox's performance 54.21% vote share was the lowest performance by a Democratic nominee in a Cook County state's attorney election since 1996. It was also the worst that a re-nominated incumbent has performed in a general election for Cook County state's attorney since the same election, which saw Republican incumbent Jack O'Malley lose reelection. Conversely, O'Brien's 39.08% share of the vote was the best performance by a Republican since 1996 and Dennehy's 6.71% share of the vote was best performance by as third-party candidate since 1996.

Cook County Board of Review

In the 2020 Cook County Board of Review election, one seat, Republican-held, out of its three seats, was up for election. Incumbent Dan Patlak was seeking 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.

1st district

Incumbent second-term Cook County Board of Review Commissioner for the 1st district, Dan Patlak, a third-term Republican last reelected in 2016, was unseated by Democrat Tammy Wendt.

This election was to a two-year term.

Primaries Democratic Candidates The following candidates ran for the Democratic Party nomination: CandidateExperienceCampaignRefAbdelnasser RashidFormer Deputy Chief of Staff for former Cook County Clerk David OrrFormer Chief Policy Officer for Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi2018 Democratic nominee for Cook County Board of Commissioners district 17WebsiteTammy WendtAttorney and real estate agent Former Cook County assistant state's attorneyTrial attorney for Jason Van Dyke in the Laquan McDonald caseWebsite

Endorsements

Results

Republican Candidates The following candidates ran for the Republican party nomination: CandidateExperienceCampaignRefDan PatlakIncumbentFormer Assessor of Wheeling TownshipWebsite

Results

General election Endorsements

Results

Water Reclamation District Board

Three of the nine seats on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago board were up for election in 2020. Each winning candidate was to serve a six-year term on the board. All candidates appeared together on the ballot, and voters could vote for up to three candidates (in both the primary and the general).

All three incumbents were Democrats. Incumbents Kimberly Neely du Buclet and Cam Davis won reelection, while Frank Avila lost renomination. Democrat Eira L. Corral also won election.

Primaries Democratic Candidates The following candidates ran for the Democratic Party nomination:

Frank Avila, incumbent Water Reclamation District Board commissioner Heather Boyle Mike Cashman Cam Davis, incumbent Water Reclamation District Board commissioner Deyon Dean Kimberly Neely du Buclet, incumbent Water Reclamation District Board commissioner, former member of the Illinois House of Representatives Patricia Theresa Flynn Michael Grace Shundar Lin Eira Corral Sepúlveda

The following candidates were removed from the ballot:

Kisha McCaskill

Results

Republican No candidates were included on the ballot in the Republican primary. While two official write-in candidates did run, neither received a sufficient share of the vote to win nomination.

Results

Green The Green Party nominated Troy Hernandez, Tammie Vinson, and Rachel Wales.

General election Endorsements

Results

Judicial elections

Partisan elections were held to fill 13 judgeships in the Circuit Court of Cook County and 21 judgeships in subcircuits of the court. There were Democratic candidates for all 34 elections, whereas the Republican primary had been canceled for all but two vacancies. Retention elections were also held for judgeships on these courts.

2020 Cook County, Illinois, elections

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