Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle speaks at a news conference last week.
Jim Vondruska/Sun-Times
As she easily breezed to another two-year term as the head of the Cook County Democratic Party, Toni Preckwinkle touted the dominance the party has held in local elections, but also foreshadowed the work to be done to unify the party behind Democratic President Joe Biden ahead of the national convention in Chicago.
Preckwinkle on Monday was unanimously re-elected chairwoman of the Democratic Party, a post she has held since 2018. She had no challengers as she was elected by 80 committee people, some voting by proxy.
Monday’s meeting was also a whisper campaign of sorts for candidates looking to replace the late Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough, who died earlier this month.
In a brief victory speech, Preckwinkle touted how well Democratic Party-backed candidates did in the March primary, winning 21 out of 23 races — the best “win ratio” for the party in at least 25 years, she said. And she made a nod to the preparation the party will take on for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August, and November’s general election.
“We want to make sure that Joe Biden wins big in November, not just in Illinois but by helping to support volunteers” in neighboring Wisconsin and Michigan, said Preckwinkle, who also runs Cook County government as president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners.
As a Democratic leader, Preckwinkle will be tasked with trying to mend division within the party. In an interview with WBEZ after her win, Preckwinkle didn’t have specific plans on how to accomplish that.
“I expect we’ll be united,” she said. “We’ve got one reasonable person as a candidate for president and one madman. So, it’s pretty easy for me.”
On Friday the Democratic Party is set to come together again to appoint Yarbrough’s temporary replacement through December, and to pick who to be on the ballot in the general election to fill the rest of her term. Yarbrough had more than two years left on her second term.
Preckwinkle would not say who she supports, but said at least three of the potential candidates eyeing the clerk seat are Cook County commissioners. Commissioner Donna Miller, who represents the south suburbs, was at the IBEW 134 hall Monday, circulating her resume and chatting up the county’s top Democratic power players in attendance. Miller has made improving Black maternal health outcomes a hallmark of her efforts.
Commissioner Kevin Morrison was there, too, taking the pulse of the committee people.
“I think it is exciting to have an opportunity to not only be the youngest countywide official, but also the first openly LGBT countywide elected official as well,” said Morrison, 34, who represents the northwest suburbs. “There’s something exciting about a young queer person being able to not only be responsible for marriage licenses, but also to help bring more energy to our youth and hopefully get them to participate in our electoral process.”
The Cook County Clerk oversees suburban elections, and the office also houses vital records going back more than 100 years, including birth, death and marriage certificates, as well as land deeds.
Preckwinkle’s uncontested win is perhaps a surprise to nobody — she has long been embedded in the fabric of local politics. She spent almost 20 years as a Chicago alderman of the 4th Ward on the South Side, then was elected Cook County Board president in 2010. She oversees a roughly $9 billion budget that funds the county’s social safety net, the courts, jail and public health system.
As chairwoman of the Cook County Democratic Party, Preckwinkle said in a recent WBEZ/Chicago Sun-Times interview that she uses her influence to help make the party more diverse and inclusive, from the Illinois Supreme Court to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago board.
She’s a mentor to many who have ascended into higher office, from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to outgoing Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton.
Kristen Schorsch covers public health and Cook County government for WBEZ.