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.

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.

About this office: Cook County Commissioner

Seventeen elected Commissioners constitute the Cook County Board, the governing policy board and legislative body of Cook County. The Board sets policy and laws for the county regarding public health and public safety and oversees safety and maintenance of county highways. The Board approves the annual budget and oversees financial integrity of the County.

About this candidate:

Name: Kevin B. Morrison
DOB: 01/27/1990
Residence: Elk Grove Village
Family: Single
Occupation: Former Special Projects Coordinator for Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi
Political Experience: Kevin Morrison has dedicated his work to candidate and issues based campaigns. He has spent years volunteering with environmental groups, and has worked on state and local races, as well as the Presidential election of 2016. He is someone whose main focus has been to building, protecting, and improving the communities around him.
Website: kevinbmorrison.com

Candidate Q&A

What is your vision for this office?

My vision for this office is a Commissioner who wakes up everyday with their focus and drive set on improving Cook County. Someone who wants to tear down the barriers affecting investment and small business development. Someone who wants to improve the county’s fiscal situation. Someone who wants to fight for working families by fixing our broken system of taxation. I want to be Commissioner because I see a path forward where our county services are well maintained, and our residents are proud of Cook County’s government.

What is the most pressing issue facing constituents, and how can you help address it?

The most pressing issue facing constituents is the relentless burden of high property taxes. I want to help eliminate this burden by getting rid of loopholes that allow the biggest corporations to skirt their property taxes, which then fall on the backs of working families and the middle class. I want to boost small business development and investment in Cook County by tearing down barriers that make such investment unaffordable, and thus expanding our country’s economy and creating new well-paying jobs.

Candidate Statement

Hello. My name is Kevin Morrison, and I am running for Cook County Commissioner in the 15th District against the Chair of the Illinois Republican Party. I am running because I have a vision of Cook County where our residents are proud of our local government, and where our public servants wake up each and every day focused on how to best provide for their constituents.

I was raised in Elk Grove Village, and was educated with a top of the line public school education. I am a graduate of DePaul University, where I studied political and environmental science.

My focus has always been directed towards the improvement of communities, and that is why I have focused my work to candidate and issues based campaigns. I am someone who knows our country was built by the hard work and dedication of our public servants, and that is why I wish to serve your needs as your Commissioner.

Unlike our current Commissioner, I plan on being an inclusive voice that represents the needs of all constituents that live here in the 15th District. That is why I pledge to you that there will always be clear lines of communication to share your wants and needs with my office.

Our county is at crossroads. I want to steer us away from financial collapse, and in a direction that no longer places the entire burden on the backs of our working and middle class families. I plan on getting rid of leasing agreement loopholes that allow the wealthiest corporations to skirt what is owed in property taxes, which then fall directly on our backs.

I also plan on implementing new policies that will bring in new forms of revenue, that do not include more regressive tax policies like the soda tax. I want to create incentives to invest in Cook County, like a property tax exemption on new small businesses, which would create more jobs and allow more businesses to take root here at home that will boost our economy.

It is policies like these that will help our county government afford and maintain our vital services, and begin to chip away at the astronomical debt crisis we currently face. I am asking for your support because I believe in a better Cook County, and I think you should to. Join me by visiting KevinBMorrison.com.

See more candidates for Cook County commissioner, 15th County Board District.

Return to our 2018 Voters’ Guide to the Cook County Primary