Chicago City Wire

Cook County Republicans are set to run a full slate of candidates for county offices in the fall. 

The Cook County GOP has slated more than 30 candidates for election against the Cook County Democrats. 

"We are very proud of the efforts of our candidates and volunteers who stepped up to collect over 8,000 signatures in just 14 days to place the largest number of Republican candidates running in Cook County in more than a generation," Cook County GOP chairman Sean Morrison said. "Cook County voters are demanding a choice at the ballot box. They will now have a clear choice in November.” 

He was excited that voters finally have a choice in the general election.

“We believe the citizens of Cook County should be given a choice and let them decide, rather than the Democrat partisans, lawyers and hearing officers at the Chicago Board of Elections and in the Cook County Clerk’s Office,” Morrison, one of two Republicans on the county board, said. 

Chicago GOP Chairman Steve Boulton said he was happy with the lineup of candidates. 

“We have slated a diverse group of Republican candidates from a variety of backgrounds," Boulton said. "Voters will be impressed by the caliber of talented people who have committed to run and take on the entrenched Democrat machine.”

The Cook County Republican Party has candidates for most county offices this election, but many of them are former Democrats. Former Democratic Alderman Bob Fioretti is running against Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle as a Republican. He left office in 2015 and has since run for mayor twice and state’s attorney once, both as a Democrat, to no avail. Many Republicans are skeptical of Fioretti because he was a progressive on the city council and because of legal issues about compensation from his employees, both on the campaign and at his law office, Chicago Tribune reported.

Morrison will face Democrat Daniel Calandriello. The other Republican on the board, Pete Silvestri, is retiring. Republican Matt Podgorski and Democrat Maggie Trevor are vying to succeed him. Attorney Tony Peraica is running against Karen Yarbrough for county clerk. He previously served on the Cook County Board as a Democrat. More recently, he has represented former House Speaker Michael Madigan. Todd Thielman, who recently served as chief of staff to Democratic Board of Review Commissioner Tammy Wendt, is running against Democratic Assessor Fritz Kaegi as a Republican. Finally, Chicago Police Detective Lupe Aguirre is running against Democratic Sheriff Tom Dart as a Republican. He ran as a Democrat for 2nd Ward alderman in 2018. Also, businessman Peter Kopsaftis is looking to unseat Democrat treasurer Maria Pappas.

The old saying that Chicagoans “vote early and often” certainly has its roots in reality. Although many officials say that voter fraud no longer happens in Chicago, former President Donald Trump begged to differ. However, the history of voter fraud in the city is alarming. In 1928, many people thought that Republicans under Mayor William Thompson operated “the greatest political machine ever fashioned in Cook County,” according to an April 12, 1928 Chicago Tribune story. However, in 1931, Democrat Mayor Anton Cermak became the first in an unbroken line of Democrat mayors, and this was the beginning of the infamous “Democratic Machine.” It made sure the right candidates were in office by whatever means necessary. Not only did politicians cheat to win, but they cheated to win major victories so they could have a “mandate.” According to Bob Crawford, a longtime journalist who covered city politics for WBBM-AM, Cermak created the machine, but Richard J. Daley made it “an art form.” 

The machine used all kinds of nefarious tactics to make sure their candidates won including, rigging voter rolls, registering dead voters from cemetery tombstones, bribing voters, pretending to be Republican poll watchers and “helping” nursing home residents vote, according to Block Club Chicago. With Daley’s death in 1976 and the passage of a city Freedom of Information law in 1983, the machine began to lose power. With new laws and more sets of eyes watching Chicago’s elections, voting often is a relic of the past.

Tens of thousands of votes cast in the Democratic Primary for Cook County sheriff will not be counted due to last-minute ballot changes and botched communication. Carmen Navarro Gercone and LaTonya Ruffin were removed from the ballot by appellate court rulings weeks before the election. Election officials were ordered to post notices informing voters about this ruling because the ballots had already been printed at the time of the ruling, but many election judges in Chicago contacted by Injustice Watch said the city Board of Elections failed to do so. Notably, this did not happen in the suburbs, and election judges there were notified by the Cook County Clerk’s Office about the changes. Noland Rivera, who was also on the ballot against Dart said that the mishap cost him the race. Although he has provided no substantive evidence and does not have the funds to challenge the election in court, Injustice Watch reported.