Politics
Retirement Not in Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s Lexicon
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle says retirement isn’t for her.
“I don’t believe in retirement,” said Preckwinkle, who last month on her 78th birthday announced she will run for a fifth consecutive term in 2026.
“If I didn’t do this job, I’d pick another one and it wouldn’t be as interesting or challenging or as impactful,” said Preckwinkle, who has led Cook County since 2010.
In an interview with WTTW News’ “Chicago Tonight,” Preckwinkle said that being elected to public service was a huge honor and dismissed concerns over her age.
“I always say that in a democracy the highest honor your fellow citizens can bestow upon you is elective office, so I’ve been blessed,” said Preckwinkle, who prior to ascending to the leadership of Cook County served for nearly two decades as a Chicago City Council member representing the 4th Ward on the South Side.
Asked about calls by some for a mandatory retirement age for politicians, Preckwinkle said it didn’t make sense for elected officials.
“Frankly, one of the challenges we have in public life is there’s not a proper appreciation for experience, and I’m grateful for the opportunities that I’ve had to lead the county,” said Preckwinkle. “I look forward to four more years of doing the same.”
Perhaps Preckwinkle’s signature achievement has been being able to balance Cook County’s budget year after year without raising new taxes. But with the new Trump administration making large-scale cuts to federal funding for state programs, maintaining that record is likely to be a significant challenge going forward.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in March that Illinois could lose as much as $11 billion in federal funds — including potentially billions in Medicaid reimbursements.
“There are a lot of ways in which the federal government supports activities at the local level,” said Preckwinkle. She noted that city, county and state governments are all going to have to “figure out how they can fill the gap” if that federal support is no longer forthcoming.
“President Trump has decided he’s going to try to overwhelm and demoralize the people who disagree with him, and you’ve seen a barrage of executive orders and actions at the federal level — which sometimes are withdrawn the next day — but in any case contribute to chaos and uncertainty,” said Preckwinkle.
She is particularly concerned about the potential impact on health care for residents of Cook County.
“I’m responsible for a public health system that does about a little less than half of the charity care in the entire county,” said Preckwinkle. “We have a lot at stake as the president attacks our national health care system.”
Preckwinkle said the county has been trying to anticipate changes and plan accordingly.
“We’ve been doing a little planning ahead, but I’m trying not to be anxious — we’ll just see what happens and then respond to it,” said Preckwinkle.
