Sean Morrison, the sole Republican on the Cook County Board of Commissioners, will not seek reelection, he announced in a message Thursday evening.
Morrison stepped down as the chair of the Cook County GOP in April, saying it was “time for new energy” in the party. This time, he said he believed public office should be “a season of contribution, not a lifetime occupation, and it is important that I lead by example.”
Morrison also said part of his decision rested in the limit of his voting power as the sole GOP member. He said Chicago, as well as Cook County and Illinois, are governed by a one-party supermajority with “policy direction and ideological priorities diverge sharply from my own.”
“I respect that many of my colleagues are good-hearted individuals who genuinely believe in their approach to governing, but those approaches often stand in conflict with the principles that brought me into public service,” Morrison said. “While I have worked vigorously to bring balance, transparency, and accountability, I also recognize the limits of what one voice can realistically achieve in a system so overwhelmingly weighted to one side.”
Morrison was appointed Cook County Commissioner representing the 17th District in 2015 and was elected as Cook County GOP chair in 2016. He was elected to his first full term as commissioner in 2018 and re-elected in 2022.
The entire County Board, plus its president, Toni Preckwinkle, will be up for reelection in 2026.