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1986 Cook County, Illinois, elections

← 1984 November 4, 1986 1988 →
Turnout	55.95%

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v t e

The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 4, 1986.

Primaries were held March 18, 1986.

Elections were held for the offices of Assessor, Clerk, Sheriff, State's Attorney, Superintendent of Education Service Region, Treasurer, President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, all 17 seats of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, both seats of the Cook County Board of Appeals, 3 seats on the Water Reclamation District Board, and judgeships on the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Election information

1986 was a midterm election year in the United States. The primaries and general elections for Cook County races coincided with those for federal (Senate and House) and those for state elections.

Voter turnout

Primary election

General election

The general election saw turnout of 55.95%, with 1,476,370 ballots cast. Chicago saw 841,085 ballots cast, and suburban Cook County saw 635,2865 ballots cast.

Straight-ticket voting

Ballots had a straight-ticket voting option in 1986.

Assessor

1986 Cook County Assessor election

← 1982 November 4, 1986 1990 →
Turnout	50.30%
Candidate Thomas Hynes Le Roy M. Graham Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 969,500 357,758 Percentage 73.05% 26.95%
Assessor before election Thomas Hynes Democratic Elected Assessor Thomas Hynes Democratic

In the 1986 Cook County Assessor election, incumbent third-term assessor Thomas Hynes, a Democrat, was reelected.

Primaries

Democratic

Republican

By winning the Republican nomination, Le Roy M. Graham became the first black candidate to run countywide as a Republican nominee.

General election

Clerk

In the 1986 Cook County Clerk election, incumbent third-term clerk Stanley Kusper, a Democrat, was reelected.

Primaries

Democratic

Incumbent Stanley Kusper defeated two challengers to win renomination.

The more successful of Kusper's two challengers was Jeanne Quinn, who four years earlier had become the first Democrat to be elected to the Cook County Board of Commissioners from suburban Cook County in half a century. Instead of seeking reelection, she instead opted to launch a challenge to Kusper. Kusper's other challenger was 28-year-old millionaire businessman Patrick M. Finley.

Republican

Former Illinois state representative Diana Nelson won the Republican primary.

General election

Sheriff

1986 Cook County Sheriff election

← 1982 November 4, 1986 1990 →
Turnout	52.30%
Candidate James E. O'Grady Richard Elrod Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 706,659 673,233 Percentage 51.12% 48.79%
Sheriff before election Richard Elrod Democratic Elected Sheriff James E. O'Grady Republican

In the 1986 Cook County Sheriff election, incumbent fourth-term sheriff Richard Elrod, a Democrat, was defeated by Republican James E. O'Grady.

O'Grady became the first Republican elected to a countywide executive office in Cook County since Bernard Carey was elected to his final term as Cook County State's Attorney in 1976.

Primaries

Democratic

Republican

General election

O'Grady won the endorsement of the Chicago Tribune for the general election.

O'Grady's victory came from winning the county's suburbs by a 2-1 margin. He also performed well in some of the ethnically white wards of Chicago, being able to cary 14 of the city's 50 wards.

Superintendent of Education Service Region

In the 1986 Cook County Superintendent of Education Service Region election, incumbent third-term superintendent Richard J. Martwick, a Democrat, was reelected.

Primaries

Democratic

Republican

No candidate ran in the Republican primary. The Republican Party ultimately nominated Tony Torres.

General election

Treasurer

In the 1986 Cook County Treasurer election, incumbent third-term treasurer Edward J. Rosewell, a Democrat, was reelected.

Primaries

Democratic

Republican

General election

President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners

1986 President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners election

← 1982 November 4, 1986 1990 →
Turnout	50.54%
Candidate George Dunne Joseph D. Mathewson Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 808,126 525,288 Percentage 60.61% 39.39%
President before election George Dunne Democratic Elected President George Dunne Democratic

In the 1986 President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners election, incumbent president George Dunne, a Democrat that had held the office since 1969, was reelected.

Primaries

Democratic

Republican

General election

Cook County Board of Commissioners

1986 Cook County Board of Commissioners election

← 1982 November 4, 1986 1990 →
All 17 seats on the Cook County Board of Commissioners 9 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Party Democratic Republican Seats before 11 6 Seats won 10 7 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 6,766,182 3,689,203 Percentage 64.71% 35.29%

The 1986 Cook County Board of Commissioners election saw all seventeen seats of the Cook County Board of Commissioners up for election to four-year terms in two sets of elections (ten elected from an election held in the city of Chicago and seven elected from and election held in suburban Cook County).

Democrats lost a seat, and Republicans, conversely, gained a seat.

City of Chicago

Ten seats were elected from the City of Chicago.

Primaries

Democratic

Republican

General election

Suburban Cook County

Primaries

Democratic

Republican

General election

Republican nominee Bernard Carey was replaced on the ballot by Robert P. Gooley, as Carey opted to instead run for Illinois Attorney General, replacing James T. Ryan as the Republican nominee for that election.

Cook County Board of Appeals

1986 Cook County Board of Appeals election

← 1982 November 4, 1986 1988 (special) →
2 of 2 seats on the Cook County Board of Review
First party Second party   Party Democratic Republican Seats before 2 0 Seats after 2 0 Seat change

In the 1986 Cook County Board of Appeals election, both seats on the board were up for election. The election was an at-large election.

One incumbent Democrat, Pat Quinn, did not seek reelection, instead running for Illinois Treasurer. The other incumbent Democrat, Harry H. Semrow, sought reelection.

Primaries

Democratic

Republican

General election

Water Reclamation District Board

In the 1986 Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago election, three of the nine seats on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago board were up for election in an at-large election. All three Democratic nominees won.

Judicial elections

Partisan elections were held for judgeships on the Circuit Court of Cook County, due to vacancies. Other judgeships had retention elections.

Other elections

Coinciding with the primaries, elections were held to elect both the Democratic and Republican committeemen for the suburban townships.

See also

• 1986 Illinois elections

References

1. ^ "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1986" (PDF). voterinfo.net. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 October 2008.
2. ^ "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS PRIMARY ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS, TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 1986" (PDF). www.cookcountyclerk.com. Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2021. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
3. ^ "STATE OF ILLINOIS OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 4, 1986" (PDF). Illinois Secretary of State. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
4. Graham, LeRoy M. (31 July 1986). "GOP 'OPENING'". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
5. Simmons, Dan (12 August 2009). "JEANNE QUINN: 1945-2009". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
6. Dold, R. Bruce; Cohen, Laurie (23 January 1986). "COUNTY CLERK CANDIDATE GENEROUS AS HE IS ORNERY". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tirbune. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
7. Neal, Steve (14 October 1985). "EX-REP. NELSON WEIGHS RACE FOR COUNTY CLERK". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
8. Burleigh, Nina (December 1988). "Jim O'Grady: Cook County GOP's 'perfect candidate'". Illinois Issues. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
9. "FOR COOK COUNTY SHERIFF: O'GRADY . . ". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. 20 October 1986. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
10. O`Connor, Matt (8 November 1990). "GOP'S HOPES FOR O'GRADY GO SOUR". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
11. Martwick, Robert (February 28, 2018). "House Resolution 0869 - 100th General Assembly". Illinois General Assembly. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
12. O'Connor, Matt (26 November 1998). "ROSEWELL MAKES DEAL IN GHOST-JOBS PROBE". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
13. "Our Campaigns - Cook County Board - City of Chicago Race - Nov 04, 1986". www.ourcampaigns.com. Our Campaigns. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
14. ^ "COOK COUNTY COMMISSION". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune and League of Women Voters of Illinois. 26 October 1986. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
15. ^ Dold, R. Bruce (30 October 1986). "CAREY FIGHTS HARTIGAN'S LEAD IN ATTORNEY GENERAL CONTEST". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 10 April 2020.

• 1986 Cook County, Illinois, elections
• Illinois judicial elections