Cook County Board of Commissioners 5th district

Cook County Board of Commissioners 5th district
District
District 5th
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Cook
Townships and equivalent jurisdictions	List Chicago Bloom Township Bremen Township Calumet Township Lake Township Rich Township Thornton Township Worth Township
Government
• Type	District
• Body	Cook County Board of Commissioners
• Commissioner	Kisha McCaskill (D)f (D)

Cook County Board of Commissioners 5th district is a single-member electoral district for the Cook County Board of Commissioners. It is currently represented by Monica Gordon, a Democrat.

History

The district was established in 1994, when the board transitioned from holding elections in individual districts, as opposed to the previous practice of having two multi-member districts districts: one for ten members from the city of Chicago and another for seven members from suburban Cook County. ^[1]

Geography

In every incarnation since its inception, the district has covered portions of the South Side of Chicago and portions of its southern suburbs.

1994 boundaries

When the district was first established, the district represented parts of the South Side and Southwest Side of Chicago, as well as parts of the southern suburbs of Cook County. ^[2]

2001 redistricting

New boundaries were adopted in August 2001, with redistricting taking place following the 2000 United States Census. ^[3]

In regards to townships and equivalent jurisdictions, the district's redistricted boundaries included portions of the city of Chicago and portions of the Bloom, Bremen, Calumet, Rich, Thornton, and Worth townships. ^[4]

2012 redistricting

The district, as redistricted in 2012 following the 2010 United States Census, strongly resembled the geography it took in its previous, 2001, redistricting. ^{[4] [5] [6] [7]}

The district included parts of Alsip, Blue Island, Calumet Park, Chicago, Chicago Heights, Country Club Hills, Dixmoor, Dolton, East Hazel Crest, Flossmoor, Ford Heights, Glenwood, Harvey, Hazel Crest, Homewood, Lynwood, Marhkam, Merrionette Park, Midlothian, Oak Forest, Olympia Fields, Park Forest, Phoenix, Posen, Riverdale, Robbins, and Sauk Village. ^{[6] [7]}

In regards to townships and equivalent jurisdictions, it included portions of the city of Chicago and portions of Bloom, Bremen, Calumet, Rich, Thornton, and Worth townships. ^[8]

The district was 76.68 square miles (49,076.30 acres). ^[9]

2022 redistricting

The district was redistricted in 2022 following the 2020 United States Census. ^[10] The district remained a majority Black district spanning across parts of the South Side of Chicago and parts of the city's southern suburbs. ^[11] The district, as redistricted, includes portions of the city of Chicago and portions of the Chicago, Bloom, Bremen, Calumet, Lake, Rich, Thornton, and Worth Townships. ^[12]

Politics

The district was represented from its inception in 1994 through 2022 by Democratic commissioner Deborah Sims. She was succeeded in December 2022 by Democrat Monica Gordon.

List of commissioners representing the district

Commissioner	Party	Years	Electoral history
Deborah Sims	Democratic	December 1994–December 5, 2022	Elected in 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018
Monica Gordon	Democratic	December 5, 2022 [13] –December 2024 [14]	Elected in 2022; resigned in order to take office as Cook County clerk [14]
Kisha McCaskill	Democratic	January 2025 [14]	Appointed in 2025 [14]

Election results

Cook County Board of Commissioners 5th district general elections
Year	Winning candidate	Party	Vote (pct)	Opponent	Party	Vote (pct)	Opponent	Party	Vote (pct)
1994	Deborah Sims	Democratic		Lawrence Ragland	Republican		Elliott Fourte	Harold Washington Party
1998 [15]	Deborah Sims	Democratic	75,008 (100%)
2002 [16] [17]	Deborah Sims	Democratic	76,702 (100%)
2006 [18]	Deborah Sims	Democratic	74,988 (100%)
2010 [19]	Deborah Sims	Democratic	79,566 (90.38%)	Miriam Shabo	Republican	8,471 (9.62%)
2014 [20]	Deborah Sims	Democratic	70,542 (100%)
2018 [21]	Deborah Sims	Democratic	81,711 (100%)
2022 [22]	Monica M. Gordon	Democratic	163,385 (91.35%)	Jason Decker	Libertarian	6,005 (8.65%)

References

1. "Choices for Cook County Board". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. October 22, 1998. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
2. "Endorsements for Cook County Board". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
3. Becker, Robert (August 24, 2001). "County's proposed redistricting map has a familiar look". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune.
4. "Commissioner District 5" (PDF). cookcountyclerk.com. Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 21, 2010.
5. Leonard, Valerie (May 11, 2012). "Redistricting of Cook County board to be determined in coming weeks". AustinTalks. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
6. "Cook County Commissioner District 5 Municipalities" (PDF). Office of the Cook County Clerk. August 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 22, 2015.
7. "Cook County Commissioner District 5 Municipalities" (PDF). Cook County Clerk. September 2015. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
8. "County Commissioner District 5" (PDF). www.cookcountyclerk.com. Cook County Clerk. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
9. "Chicago Cityscape - Map of building projects, properties, and businesses in District 5, Commissioner Deborah Sims (Cook County Commissioner District)". www.chicagocityscape.com. Archived from the original on November 2, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
10. Quig, A.D. (September 23, 2021). "Here's the new Cook County Board map". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
11. Yin, Alice (June 24, 2022). "In primary races for Cook County Board, a new map and 3 retiring commissioners boost competition". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
12. "Election Viewer". maps.cookcountyil.gov. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
13. "Monica Gordon". Ballotpedia. December 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
14. Nolan, Mike (January 11, 2025). "Harvey Park District Director Named to Replace Monica Gordon on Cook County Board". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
15. "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1998" (PDF). results.cookcountyclerkil.gov.
16. "TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE RETURNS AND PROCLAMATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE CANVASS OF THE ELECTION RETURNS FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION HELD IN EACH OF THE PRECINCTS IN ALL THE WARDS IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2002 A.D." (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
17. "SUBURBAN COOK COUNTY RESULTS". voterinfonet.com. Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original on February 9, 2005.
18. "Cook County and the City of Chicago Combined Summary Report November 2006 General Election Tuesday, November 7th, 2006" (PDF). Cook County Clerk's Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 22, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
19. "Cook County General Election November 2, 2010 Combined Summary Report" (PDF). Cook County Clerk's Office. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
20. "General Election Cook County and The City of Chicago Tuesday, November 4, 2014 Combined Summary" (PDF). Cook County Clerk's Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 28, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
21. "Cook County and The City of Chicago General Election November 6, 2018 Combined Summary" (PDF). Cook County Clerk's Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
22. "Tabulated Statement of the Returns and Proclamation of the Results of the Canvass of the Election Returns for the November 8, 2022 Gubernatorial General Election Held in Each of the Precincts in Cook County, Illinois Including the City of Chicago" (PDF). www.cookcountyclerkil.gov. Cook County Clerk. 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022.