Just under the wire, dozens of hopefuls for county races submitted their nominating papers to earn their spots down ballot on Monday, crowding into races for empty seats, sparing incumbents from any contest at all, and in some cases, running back old rivalries.
Whether they make it to the March 2026 primary ballots will now depend on whether their opponents challenge the validity of the thousands of signatures they submitted.
The race for the 12th District Cook County Board seat being vacated by Commissioner Bridget Degnen is one of the most crowded, attracting five Democrats and a Republican.
Liz Granato, the chief of the county’s Bureau of Asset Management and the daughter of former Ald. Jesse Granato, is in the running. So is Cat Sharp, the chief of staff to Ald. Andre Vasquez. Sharp was one of several candidates or elected officials indicted for alleged assault and obstruction of immigration enforcement near the Broadview ICE facility late last month.
The district follows the North Branch of the Chicago River from Streeterville up to North Mayfair and Portage Park. Also in the running for the Democratic nomination: CPS teacher Isaiah White, Equality Illinois civic engagement director José “Che-Che” Wilson and Rob Moon.
And Xiaoli “Alice” Hu, who ran previously for the seat unsuccessfully as a Republican, filed to do so again.
There’s another empty seat on the Far Northwest Side’s 15th District, where current Commissioner Kevin Morrison is running for the 8th Congressional District seat vacated by Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi. Ted Mason, Morrison’s chief of staff and the Democratic committeeperson for Elk Grove Township, is running uncontested for the Democratic nomination to replace him.
Two Republicans — small business owner Daniel Lee and Gabriella Hoxie, a staffer for House Republican Leader Tony McCombie — filed for the Republican nomination. The district was a longtime Republican seat until Morrison’s election in 2018.
Recently appointed Commissioner Kisha McCaskill faces Kiana Belcher, a recently elected Dolton Village trustee in the 5th District in the south suburbs who also submitted her name for the appointment earlier this year.
Commissioner Bridget Gainer, who heads up global public affairs and policy at Aon, faces engineer Drake Warren, who says he will give his “undivided attention” to the role representing the city’s north lakefront.
Flashback races
Sean Morrison, the board’s lone Republican, again faces Elizabeth “Liz” Doody Gorman. Morrison was appointed to replace her when she left the County Board for a job at PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2015. He went on to lead the Cook County GOP in 2016, stepping down earlier this year amid a broader rift in the party statewide. He narrowly held on to his seat in the general election in 2018 against Democrat Abdelnasser Rashid.
More Top Picks Best Magnetic Glass Whiteboards
Gorman led the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority under Gov. Bruce Rauner and stepped down shortly after Gov. JB Pritzker took office. Morrison beat her in the 2022 primary.
This time, Elyse Hoffenberg, the current Lyons Township clerk and a former assistant state’s attorney, is the lone Democrat running in that district.
6th District Democratic voters might see a familiar name on ballots: Murphy. The late county Commissioner Joan Murphy of Crestwood’s daughter, Patricia Joan, who goes by “Trish,” is running in the crowded 6th District. The two helped run a Navy Pier shop together, which the younger Murphy closed when her mother became sick. She took over the family’s real estate business and later became Worth Township supervisor.
Current Commissioner Donna Miller is seeking a promotion, as one of several candidates to succeed U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly. The County Board district fishhooks from Bridgeview and Justice down to the county’s southern border, then back up to cover Homewood and South Holland.
It’s shaping up to be another one of the most crowded County Board races on the ballot. Democrats running include Sylvester Fulcher, Felesa Melvin, Veronica Bolling-Franklin, Antoine Bass and attorney Wesam Shahed, who was endorsed by Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Monday.
Northwest Side voters might also be familiar with Ammie Kessem, a former Chicago Police Department sergeant who ran for the state House in 2018 against Rob Martwick. She is running unopposed for the Republican nomination in the 9th District, which covers the city’s Northwest Side and many northwest suburbs, including Arlington Heights.
Incumbent Commissioner Maggie Trevor faces Kevin Robert Murphy in the primary to maintain her seat in the 9th. Murphy leads a Des Plaines based nonprofit, Jet City Coalition, and introduced himself with his fraternity-given nickname, Juice, in a campaign video.
Andre Smith, who has run for various elected offices on Chicago’s South Side, was first in line to take on Michael Scott Jr. to represent the 2nd District, which winds through both the South and West sides. Scott was appointed to the County Board last year. Smith recently ran for school board, state House, and alderman. Eddie Johnson III, another hopeful in the 2nd District, similarly ran for alderman in the 16th Ward and for the County Board in 2018.
Done before they started
Aside from Treasurer Maria Pappas, Clerk Monica Gordon and Sheriff Tom Dart, several incumbents are running uncontested in the March primary.
For the Democrats, that includes longtime Finance Chair John Daley in the 11th District, which runs between Bridgeport and the southwest suburbs, Stanley Moore and Bill Lowry in the South Side and south suburban 3rd and 4th, Josina Morita in the largely north suburban lakefront 13th and Scott Britton in the 14th to her north.
Progressives Alma Anaya in the Southwest Side’s 7th and Tara Stamps on the city and suburban west side’s 1st District are also without primary challengers.
Property tax appeals contests
Assessor Fritz Kaegi isn’t the only property tax official in for a primary race: Two of the three members of the county’s Board of Review, which hears property tax appeals, are also in face-offs with fellow Democrats.
After Samantha Steele had alleged DUI and ethics problems, the county Democratic Party endorsed Liz Nicholson over Steele, the North Side’s current representative to the Board of Review. Nicholson works in fundraising and public relations.
Meanwhile, George Cardenas, the former alderman whose district spans the city’s Southwest Side and the northwest suburbs, faces a challenge from Juanita Irizarry, a former aldermanic candidate who previously headed up Friends of the Parks and worked in housing policy under Gov. Pat Quinn. Irizarry rolled out her campaign late last month with endorsements from several Latino progressives, including U.S. Reps. Jesús “Chuy” García and Delia Ramirez and Aldermen Jesse Fuentes, Daniel La Spata, Julia Ramirez, Mike Rodriguez and Andre Vasquez.
“The burden of property taxes has shifted away from large commercial properties onto homeowners, who now pay more than our fair share,” Irizarry said in her campaign launch video, vowing not to accept donations from property tax attorneys and ensuring appeals that are granted to commercial properties more transparent.