1986 Cook County, Illinois, elections

1986 Cook County, Illinois, elections

←  1984 November 4, 1986 1988  →
Turnout	55.95%

The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 4, 1986. ^[1]

Primaries were held March 18, 1986. ^[2]

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

Vote totals of primaries ^[2]

Primary	Chicago vote totals	Suburban Cook County vote totals	Total Cook County vote totals
Democratic	548,326	124,471	672,799
Republican	25,962	79,517	105,479
Nonpartisan	3,654	13,948	17,602
Total	577,942	217,936	795,880

General election

The general election saw turnout of 55.95%, with 1,476,370 ballots cast. ^{[1] [3]} Chicago saw 841,085 ballots cast, and suburban Cook County saw 635,2865 ballots cast. ^[1]

Straight-ticket voting

Ballots had a straight-ticket voting option in 1986. ^[1]

Party	Number of straight-ticket votes [1]
Democratic	52,099
Republican	162,362
Allin Walker Party	17
Illinois Solidarity	951
Libertarian	683
Socialist Workers	951
Quality Cong. Rep.	421

Assessor

1986 Cook County Assessor election

← 1982 November 4, 1986 1990  →
Turnout	50.30% [1] [3]
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

Cook County Assessor Democratic primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Thomas C. Hynes (incumbent)	405,270	100
Total votes			405,270	100

Republican

By winning the Republican nomination, Le Roy M. Graham became the first black candidate to run countywide as a Republican nominee. ^[4]

Cook County Assessor Republican primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Le Roy M. Graham	77,243	100
Total votes			77,243	100

General election

Cook County Assessor election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Thomas C. Hynes (incumbent)	969,500	73.05
	Republican	Le Roy M. Graham	357,758	26.95
Total votes			1,327,258	100

Clerk

1986 Cook County Clerk election

← 1982 November 4, 1986 1990  →
Turnout	51.56% [1] [3]
Candidate Stanley Kusper Diana Nelson Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 929,949 430,568 Percentage 68.35% 31.35%
Clerk before election Stanley Kusper Democratic Elected Clerk Stanley Kusper Democratic

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. ^{[1] [5]} Kusper's other challenger was 28-year-old millionaire businessman Patrick M. Finley. ^[6]

Cook County Clerk Democratic primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Stanley T. Kusper, Jr.	255,761	45.73
	Democratic	Jeanne P. Quinn	218,442	30.08
	Democratic	Patrick M. Finley	95,115	15.22
Total votes			569,318	100

Republican

Former Illinois state representative Diana Nelson won the Republican primary. ^{[1] [7]}

Cook County Clerk Republican primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Diana Nelson	80,639	100
Total votes			80,639	100

General election

Cook County Clerk election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Stanley T. Kusper, Jr.	929,949	68.35
	Republican	Diana Nelson	430,568	31.35
Total votes			1,360,517	100

Sheriff

1986 Cook County Sheriff election

← 1982 November 4, 1986 1990  →
Turnout	52.30% [1] [3]
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. ^[8]

Primaries

Democratic

Cook County Sheriff Democratic primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Richard J. Elrod (incumbent)	418,843	100
Total votes			418,843	100

Republican

Cook County Sheriff Republican primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	James E. O'Grady	82,185	100
Total votes			82,185	100

General election

O'Grady won the endorsement of the Chicago Tribune for the general election. ^[9]

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. ^[10]

Cook County Sheriff election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	James E. O'Grady	706,659	51.12
	Democratic	Richard J. Elrod (incumbent)	673,233	48.79
Total votes			1,379,892	100

Superintendent of Education Service Region

1986 Superintendent of Education Service Region special election

← 1982 November 4, 1986 1990  →
Turnout	49.20% [1] [3]
Candidate Richard J. Martwick Tony Torres Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 824,384 473,694 Percentage 63.51% 36.49%
Superintendent before election Richard J. Martwick Democratic Elected Superintendent Richard J. Martwick Democratic

In the 1986 Cook County Superintendent of Education Service Region election, incumbent third-term superintendent Richard J. Martwick, a Democrat, was reelected. ^{[1] [11]}

Primaries

Democratic

Cook County Superintendent of Education Service Region Democratic primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Richard J. Marwick (incumbent)	297,358	72.36
	Democratic	Tom Van Dam	113,599	27.64
Total votes			410,957	100

Republican

No candidate ran in the Republican primary. ^[2] The Republican Party ultimately nominated Tony Torres. ^[1]

General election

Cook County Superintendent of Education Service Region election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Richard J. Martwick (incumbent)	824,384	63.51
	Republican	Tony Torres	473,694	36.49
Total votes			1,298,078	100

Treasurer

1986 Cook County Treasurer election

← 1982 November 4, 1986 1990  →
Turnout	50.62% [1] [3]
Candidate Edward J. Rosewell Richard M. Hetzer Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 905,190 410,909 Percentage 68.78% 31.22%
Treasurer before election Edward J. Rosewell Democratic Elected Treasurer Edward J. Rosewell Democratic

In the 1986 Cook County Treasurer election, incumbent third-term ^[12] treasurer Edward J. Rosewell, a Democrat, was reelected.

Primaries

Democratic

Cook County Treasurer Democratic primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward J. Rosewell (incumbent)	399,143	100
Total votes			399,143	100

Republican

Cook County Treasurer Republican primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Richard M. Hetzer	77,901	100
Total votes			77,901	100

General election

Cook County Treasurer election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward J. Rosewell (incumbent)	905,190	68.78
	Republican	Richard M. Hetzer	410,909	31.22
Total votes			1,316,099	100

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% [1] [3]
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

President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners Democratic primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George W. Dunne	435,063	100
Total votes			435,063	100

Republican

President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners Republican primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Joseph D. Mathewson	63,625	100
Total votes			63,625	100

General election

President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George W. Dunne	808,126	60.61
	Republican	Joseph D. Mathewson	525,288	39.39
Total votes			1,333,414	100

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

Cook County Board of Commissioners Chicago Democratic primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George W. Dunne (incumbent)	270,744	8.68
	Democratic	Jerry "Iceman" Butler (incumbent)	215,292	6.90
	Democratic	John H. Stroger, Jr. (incumbent)	196,824	6.31
	Democratic	Samuel G. Vaughan (incumbent)	161,586	5.18
	Democratic	Charles R. Bernardini	153.272	4.92
	Democratic	Bobbie L. Steele	143,577	4.60
	Democratic	Irene C. Hernandez (incumbent)	135,026	4.33
	Democratic	Frank A. Damato	132,098	4.24
	Democratic	Marco Domico	129,186	4.14
	Democratic	Rose-Marie Love	127,975	4.10
	Democratic	Lilia T. Delgado	122,794	3.94
	Democratic	Michael L. Nardulli	116,850	3.75
	Democratic	Edward H. Mazur	115,117	3.69
	Democratic	Frank D. Stemberk	114,750	3.68
	Democratic	Sidney L. "Sid" Ordower	109,529	3.51
	Democratic	Stephen T. Hynes	98,506	3.16
	Democratic	Michael Patrick Hogan	95,876	3.07
	Democratic	Daniel P. O'Brien	86,849	2.79
	Democratic	Mary Therese Dunne	79,066	2.54
	Democratic	Chester T. Stanislawski	68,529	2.20
	Democratic	Gregory J. Wojowski	59,943	1.92
	Democratic	John T. McGuire	58,117	1.86
	Democratic	William J. Donohue	54,288	1.74
	Democratic	Charles R. Bowen	51.552	1.65
	Democratic	Joseph McAfee	46,493	1.49
	Democratic	James W. Flint	46,128	1.48
	Democratic	Ginger E. Andrews	41,867	1.34
	Democratic	Carmine Castrovillari	36,479	1.14
	Democratic	Robert Mercurio	29,821	0.96
	Democratic	John Fraire	21,341	0.68

Republican

Cook County Board of Commissioners Chicago Republican primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Susan Catania	13,501	9.85
	Republican	Richard D. Murphy	13,417	9.79
	Republican	Brenda A. Sheriff	12,994	9.48
	Republican	Julia Fairfax	12,923	9.43
	Republican	Brian G. Doherty	12,839	9.36
	Republican	William Allen E. Boyd	12,684	9.25
	Republican	Stephan J. Evans	12,669	9.24
	Republican	Charles J. Fogel	12,517	9.13
	Republican	LaFaye L. Casey	12,133	8.85
	Republican	Paul J. Taxey	10,967	8.00
	Republican	William M. Cronin	10,464	7.63

General election

Cook County Board of Commissioners Chicago election ^{[1] [13]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George W. Dunne (incumbent)	569,517	8.60
	Democratic	Charles R. Bernardini	528,928	7.99
	Democratic	Jerry "Iceman" Butler (incumbent)	527,951	7.58
	Democratic	John H. Stroger, Jr. (incumbent)	520,930	7.87
	Democratic	Irene C. Hernandez (incumbent)	506,389	7.65
	Democratic	Bobbie L. Steele	503,110	7.60
	Democratic	Frank A. Damato	499,689	7.55
	Democratic	Samuel G. Vaughan (incumbent)	596,454	7.50
	Democratic	Marco Domico	485,772	7.34
	Democratic	Rose-Marie Love	482,230	7.29
	Republican	Susan Catania	205,219	3.10
	Republican	Richard D. Murphy	158,041	2.39
	Republican	Brian G. Doherty	156,207	2.36
	Republican	Brenda A. Sheriff	146,631	2.22
	Republican	Julia Fairfax	142,990	2.16
	Republican	William Allen E. Boyd	141,712	2.14
	Republican	LaFaye L. Casey	140,180	2.12
	Republican	Charles J. Fogel	138,667	2.09
	Republican	Stephan J. Evans	137,356	2.07
	Republican	Paul J. Taxey	131,957	1.99

Suburban Cook County

Primaries

Democratic

Cook County Board of Commissioners suburban Cook County Democratic primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joan P. Murphy	75,981	13.85
	Democratic	Janice D. "Jan" Schakowsky	72,315	13.18
	Democratic	Kevin J. Conlon	71,012	12.94
	Democratic	John D. Rita	70,835	12.91
	Democratic	Andrew "Andy" Przybylo	67,167	12.24
	Democratic	Renee H. Thaler	67,072	12.22
	Democratic	John J. Lattner	62,287	11.35
	Democratic	Edward J. King	62,015	11.30

Republican

Cook County Board of Commissioners suburban Cook County Republican primary ^{[2] [14]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bernard Carey (incumbent) [15]	54,525	13.21
	Republican	Mary M. McDonald (incumbent)	47,117	11.43
	Republican	Joseph I. Woods (incumbent)	43,912	10.64
	Republican	Carl R. Hansen (incumbent)	42,499	10.30
	Republican	Harold L. Tyrrell (incumbent)	41,272	10.00
	Republican	Richard A. Siebel (incumbent)	39,733	9.63
	Republican	Joseph D. Mathewson	38,207	9.26
	Republican	Patricia J. Semrow	28,887	7.00
	Republican	Gordon Scott Hirsch	27,229	6.60
	Republican	Thomas E. Brennan	25,365	6.15
	Republican	C. Robert McDonald	23,855	5.78

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. ^[15]

Cook County Board of Commissioners suburban Cook County election ^{[1] [14]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mary M. McDonald (incumbent)	339,214	9.08
	Republican	Joseph D. Mathewson	336,097	9.00
	Republican	Harold L. Tyrrell (incumbent)	317,481	8.50
	Republican	Carl R. Hansen (incumbent)	314,145	8.41
	Republican	Richard A. Siebel (incumbent)	310,800	8.32
	Republican	Joseph I. Woods (incumbent)	303,068	8.11
	Republican	Robert P. Gooley	269,438	7.21
	Democratic	Joan P. Murphy	262,699	7.03
	Democratic	Janice D. "Jan" Schakowsky	239,517	6.41
	Democratic	John J. Lattner	229,352	6.14
	Democratic	Kevin J. Conlon	216,394	5.79
	Democratic	Andrew "Andy" Przybylo	209,503	5.61
	Democratic	John D. Rita	198,403	5.31
	Democratic	Renee H. Thaler	189,344	5.07

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

Cook County Board of Appeals Democratic primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Wilson Frost	331,593	41.44
	Democratic	Harry H. Semrow (incumbent)	249,728	31.21
	Democratic	John W. McCaffrey	218,849	27.35

Republican

Cook County Board of Appeals Republican primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kenneth R. Hurst	73,459	50.48
	Republican	Ronald M. Hamelberg	72,055	49.52

General election

Cook County Board of Appeals Democratic primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Wilson Frost	796,663	31.68
	Democratic	Harry H. Semrow (incumbent)	756,164	30.07
	Republican	Kenneth R. Hurst	491,491	19.55
	Republican	Ronald M. Hamelberg	470,051	18.69

Water Reclamation District Board

1986 Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago election

←  1984 November 4, 1986 1988  →
3 of 9 seats on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago

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. ^[1] All three Democratic nominees won. ^[1]

Judicial elections

Partisan elections were held for judgeships on the Circuit Court of Cook County, due to vacancies. Other judgeships had retention elections. ^[1]

Other elections

Coinciding with the primaries, elections were held to elect both the Democratic and Republican committeemen for the suburban townships. ^[2]

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.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
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.