2018 Primary: Cook County Clerk

WTTW’s 2018 Voters’ Guide to the Cook County Primary is an online resource designed to inform voters about the candidates running for office in the March 20 election. Learn more.

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About this office: The Cook County Clerk is the official custodian of Cook County records and books. The office maintains and copies vital documents, i.e. birth certificates, marriage certificates, prepares agendas and tracks proceedings of Cook County Board Meetings, and is responsible for administering all elections in Cook County outside of Chicago.

The candidates below appear in ballot order.

Democratic Candidates

Karen A. Yarbrough“Having already saved taxpayers millions of dollars as Recorder, I plan to use that same fiscal discipline to build the best County Clerk’s Office in the country.” Learn more about this candidate.


Jan Kowalski McDonald: Candidate has been removed from the ballot, but her name will still appear because of printing deadlines. A vote for her will not be counted.

About Candidate Free Time

WTTW’s 2018 Voters’ Guide to the Cook County Primary is an online resource designed to inform voters about the candidates running for office in the March 20 election.

More: 2018 Voters’ GuideMore: 2018 Voters’ Guide Candidates were given two minutes to tell voters where they stand on the issues, why they feel they are best qualified and what they intend to do if elected or re-elected. The messages were recorded at the WTTW studios at no cost to the candidates.

The Voters’ Guide is an online version of Candidate Free Time, pioneered by WTTW in the 1992 race for U.S. Senate. This year’s Candidate Free Time is produced with and underwritten in part by the League of Women Voters of Cook County.

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Thanks to our sponsors:

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