1994 Cook County, Illinois, elections

The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 8, 1994.

1994 Cook County, Illinois, elections

← 1992 November 8, 1994 1996 →
Turnout	48.16%

Primaries were held March 15, 1994.^[1]

Elections were held for Assessor, Clerk, Sheriff, 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, seats on the Water Reclamation District Board, and judgeships in the Circuit Court of Cook County.

The Democratic Party performed well, winning a full sweep of all countywide offices and 11 out of 17 seats on the Cook County Board of Commissioners.^[2] This came despite 1994 having been a strong Republican election cycle nationally, including in Illinois’ statewide elections (with the national election cycle being dubbed the “Republican Revolution”).

Election information

1994 was a midterm election year in the United States. The primaries and general elections for Cook County races coincided with those for congressional elections and those for state elections.

Voter turnout

Primary election

Turnout in the primaries was 34.58%, with 911,577 ballots cast.^[1][3] Chicago saw 555,937 ballots cast and suburban Cook County saw 23.95% turnout (with 355,620 ballots cast).^[1][4]

Vote totals of primaries^[1]

Primary	Chicago vote totals	Suburban Cook County vote totals	Total Cook County vote totals
Democratic	525,752	213,002	738,754
Republican	24,391	132,478	156,869
Harold Washington Party	564	110	674
Harold Washington Party/Democratic	3,826	1,669	5,495
Harold Washington Party/Republican	244	171	415
Nonpartisan	1,160	8,190	9,350
Total	555,937	355,620	911,557

General election

The general election saw turnout of 48.16%, with 1,267,152 ballots cast.^[5] Chicago saw 586,235 ballots cast, while suburban Cook County saw 50.54% turnout (with 680,917 ballots cast).^[4][5]

Assessor

1994 Cook County Assessor election

← 1990 November 8, 1994 1998 →

Candidate Thomas Hynes Sandra C. Wilson-Muriel Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 725,866 340,151

Assessor before election Thomas Hynes Democratic Elected Assessor Thomas Hynes Democratic

In the 1994 Cook County Assessor election, incumbent assessor Thomas Hynes, a Democrat, was elected to a fifth full-term.^[2]

Primaries

Democratic

Cook County Assessor Democratic primary^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Thomas Hynes (incumbent)	444,436	100
Total votes			444,436	100

Republican

Cook County Assessor Republican primary^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sandra C. Wilson-Muriel	98,084	100
Total votes			98,084	100

Harold Washington Party

Cook County Assessor Harold Washington Party primary^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Harold Washington	Donald Pamon	3,076	100
Total votes			3,076	100

General election

Democrat Hynes won by a roughly 35-point margin.^[6] He defeated Republican nominee Sandra C. Wilson-Muriel, as well as Harold Washington Party nominee Donald Pamon and Populist Party nominee Loretha Weisinger.^[6]

Cook County Assessor election^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Thomas Hynes (incumbent)	725,866
	Republican	Sandra C. Wilson-Muriel	340,151
	Harold Washington	Donald Pamon	47,682
	Populist	Loretha Weisinger
Total votes				100

Clerk

1994 Cook County Clerk election

← 1990 November 8, 1994 1998 →

Candidate David Orr Edward Howlett Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 720,132 381,445

Clerk before election David Orr Democratic Elected Clerk David Orr Democratic

In the 1994 Cook County Clerk election, incumbent first-term clerk David Orr, a Democrat, was reelected.

Primaries

Democratic

Cook County Clerk Democratic primary^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	David D. Orr (incumbent)	454,873	76,37
	Democratic	Patricia Young	140,290	23.63
Total votes			595,163	100

Republican

Cook County Clerk Republican primary^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Edward G. Howlett	102,454	100
Total votes			102,454	100

Harold Washington Party

Cook County Clerk Harold Washington Party primary^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Harold Washington	Herman W. Baker, Jr.	2,154	50.77
	Harold Washington	Vivian Stewart Tyler	2,089	49.23
Total votes			4,243	100

General election

David Orr was reelected by a roughly 30-point margin.^[6] He defeated Republican nominee Edward Howlett, as well as Harold Washington Party nominee Herman W. Baker, Jr. and Populist Party nominee Curtis Jones.^[6]

Cook County Clerk election^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	David Orr (incumbent)	720,132
	Republican	Edward Howlett	381,445
	Harold Washington	Herman W. Baker, Jr.	30,754
	Populist	Curtis Jones
Total votes				100

Sheriff

1994 Cook County Sheriff election

← 1990 November 8, 1994 1998 →

Candidate Michael F. Sheahan John D. Tourtelot Party Democratic Republican

Sheriff before election Michael F. Sheahan Democratic Elected Sheriff Michael F. Sheahan Democratic

In the 1994 Cook County Sheriff election, incumbent first-term sheriff Michael F. Sheahan, a Democrat, was reelected.

Primaries

Democratic

Cook County Sheriff Democratic primary^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Michael F. Sheahan (incumbent)	388,977	67.41
	Democratic	Tommy H. Brewer	188,025	32.59
Total votes			577,002	100

Republican

No candidate ran in the Republican primary for Sheriff.^[1] The party ultimately nominated John D. Tourtelot.^[6]

Harold Washington Party

Cook County Sheriff Harold Washington Party primary^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Harold Washington	William A. Brown	3,076	100
Total votes			3,076	100

General election

Michael F. Sheahan was reelected by a roughly 40-point margin.^[6] He defeated Republican nominee John D. Tourtelot, as well as Harold Washington Party nominee William A. Brown and Populist Party nominee William J. Benson.^[6]

Treasurer

1994 Cook County Treasurer election

← 1990 November 8, 1994 1998 →

Candidate Edward J. Rosewell Jean Reyes Pechette Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 643,313 389,131

Treasurer before election Edward J. Rosewell Democratic Elected Treasurer Edward J. Rosewell Democratic

In the 1994 Cook County Treasurer election, incumbent fifth-term treasurer Edward J. Rosewell, a Democrat, was reelected.^[6][8]

Primaries

Democratic

Cook County Treasurer Democratic primary^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward J. Rosewell (incumbent)	423,290	100
Total votes			423,290	100

Republican

Cook County Treasurer Republican primary^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jean Reyes Pechette	111,506	100
Total votes			111,506	100

Harold Washington Party

Cook County Treasurer Harold Washington Party primary^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Harold Washington	Robert J. Pettis	2,089	50.47
	Harold Washington	Atara Young	1,962	49.53
Total votes			4,051	100

General election

Rosewell was reelected by a more than 20-point margin. He defeated Republican nominee Jean Reyes Pechette, as well as Harold Washington Party nominee Robert J. Pettis and Populist Party nominee John Justice.^[6]

Cook County Treasurer election^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward J. Rosewell	643,313
	Republican	Jean Reyes Pechette	389,131
	Harold Washington	Robert J. Pettis	55,017
	Populist	John Justice
Total votes				100

President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners

1994 President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners election

← 1990 November 8, 1994 1998 →

Candidate John Stroger Joe Morris Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 681,078 397,241

President before election Richard Phelan Democratic Elected President John Stroger Democratic

In the 1994 President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners election, incumbent first-term president Richard Phelan, a Democrat, did not seek reelection. Democrat, John Stroger, was elected to succeed him in office. Stroger was the first African-American to be elected to the office.^[2]

Primaries

Democratic

President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners Democratic primary^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Stroger, Jr.	308,944	47.63
	Democratic	Aurelia Marie Pucinski	185,266	28.56
	Democratic	Maria Pappas	154,543	23.82
Total votes			648,753	100

Republican

Joe Morris received the Republican nomination, running unopposed on the ballot in the Republican primary.

Originally, Palatine village president Rita Mullins was running for the nomination, but she withdrew her candidacy.^[9]

President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners Republican primary^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Joseph A. Morris	99,238	100
Total votes			99,238	100

Harold Washington Party

President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners Harold Washington Party primary^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Harold Washington	David R. Reed	2,106	53.26
	Harold Washington	Bruce Crosby	1,848	46.64
Total votes			120,627	100

General election

Morris' candidacy was considered a long shot. It struggled with a lack of funds.^[2] During the general election, Stroger did not campaign heavily.^[2]

Morris proposed drastically restricting the county's government, abolishing all of the county agencies except the State's Attorney's office and replacing them with a different arrangement of departments that would have been under greater control of the president of the Cook Cook County Board of Commissioners.^[2]

Stroger won by a more than 25-point margin over Republican Joe Morris. He also defeated Harold Washington Party nominee Aloysius Majerczyk and Populist Party nominee Jerome Carter.^[6]

President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners election^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Stroger	681,078
	Republican	Joe Morris	397,241
	Harold Washington	Aloysius Majerczyk	33,886
	Populist	Jerome Carter
Total votes				100

Cook County Board of Commissioners

Main article: 1994 Cook County Board of Commissioners election

1994 Cook County Board of Commissioners election

← 1990 November 8, 1994 1998 →
All 17 seats on the Cook County Board of Commissioners 9 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Democratic Republican Harold Washington Seats before 11 6 0 Seats won 11 6 0 Seat change

The 1994 Cook County Board of Commissioners election saw all seventeen seats of the Cook County Board of Commissioners up for election to four-year terms.

This was the first for the Cook County Board of Commissioners conducted with individual districts, as previous elections had been conducted through two sets of at-large elections (one for ten seats from the city of Chicago and another for seven seats from suburban Cook County).^[10]

Six of those elected were new to the Cook County Board of Commissioners.^[11]

The number of commissioners each party held remained unchanged.^[12]

Cook County Board of Appeals

1994 Cook County Board of Appeals election

← 1990 November 8, 1990 1998 (Board of Review) →
2 of 2 seats on the Cook County Board of Appeals
First party Second party   Party Democratic Republican Seats before 2 0 Seats after 2 0 Seat change

In the 1994 Cook County Board of Appeals election, both seats on the board were up for election. The election was an at-large election.

Incumbent Democrats Joseph Berrios and Wilson Frost were reelected.

This was the last election to the Cook County Board of Appeals, which was reconstituted in 1998 as the three-member Cook County Board of Review.

Water Reclamation District Board

1994 Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago election

← 1992 November 8, 1994 1998 →

In the 1998 Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago election took place on November 8, 1994, with primaries on March 15, 1994.

Judicial elections

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

Ballot questions

Property tax cap advisory referendum

An advisory referendum was held on whether the voters of Cook County wanted the Illinois General Assembly to pass a cap on property taxes. Voters overwhelmingly supported a tax cap.

Property tax cap^[13]

Candidate		Votes	%
Yes		653,200	83.02
No		133,650	16.99
Total votes		786,850	100

Other elections

Coinciding with the primaries, elections were held to elect the Democratic, Republican, and Harold Washington Party committeemen for the suburban townships.^[1]

Suburban Cook County elected a superintendent for the Suburban Cook County Regional Office of Education, with Republican Lloyd Lehman running unopposed in the general election.^[7]

See also

• 1994 Illinois elections

References

1. "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS PRIMARY ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 1994 DEMOCRATIC PARTY" (PDF). Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 2, 2022. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
2. "STROGER'S PATIENCE IS REWARDED". Chicago Tribune. November 9, 1994. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
3. "STATE OF ILLINOIS OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, MARCH 15, 1994" (PDF). Illinois Secretary of State. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
4. "Voter Registration and Turnout 1990 - 2019 | Cook County Clerk's Office". www.cookcountyclerk.com. Cook County Clerk. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
5. "STATE OF ILLINOIS OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 8, 1994" (PDF). Illinois Secretary of State. Retrieved 16 October 2020.^{[permanent dead link]}
6. Chicago Tribune, 11/10/1994
7. "Cook County offices". Newspapers.com. Chicago Tribune. 10 Nov 1994. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
8. O'Connor, Matt (26 November 1998). "ROSEWELL MAKES DEAL IN GHOST-JOBS PROBE". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
9. "ENDORSEMENTS FOR COOK COUNTY BOARD". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
10. "CHOICES FOR COOK COUNTY BOARD". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. 22 October 1998. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
11. Geroulis, Dean (25 November 1994). "NEW COMMISSIONER TO REMAIN ELMWOOD PARK MAYOR". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
12. Fegelman, Andrew (10 November 1994). "STROGER'S WIN BUILT ON VOTER, PARTY UNITY". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
13. "REFERENDUMS". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. 10 November 1994. Retrieved 25 August 2024.