Politics
Preckwinkle Wins Democratic Nomination for Cook County Board President
Incumbent Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has declared victory in the March 17, 2026, Democratic primary election. She spoke at a campaign event at Little Black Pearl in Kenwood. (Blair Paddock / WTTW News)
Stay updated on local news. Sign up for the Daily Chicagoan newsletter.
Incumbent Toni Preckwinkle on Tuesday won the Democratic nomination for Cook County Board president, positioning her to run for a fifth term in office.
Preckwinkle took the lead with 68% of the votes, according to the Associated Press. Her opponent, Chicago Ald. Brendan Reilly, followed with 32%.
“We’re going to protect what we built,” Preckwinkle said Tuesday night to a crowd of supporters chanting “four more years.” “We’re going to make sure the county remains a place where people feel safe, supported and included.”
After her victory speech, supporters brought out a chocolate cake for Preckwinkle to celebrate her 79th birthday, which fell on Election Day.
In a statement, Reilly said he spoke with Preckwinkle to congratulate her on her “hard fought victory.”
Preckwinkle will now face Libertarian Michael Murphy in the Nov. 3 general election. No Republicans sought the GOP nomination.
Preckwinkle has spent the past 16 years as board president. She has touted her work during that time balancing the county’s budget, increasing pension payments and erasing nearly $800 million in medical debt for residents.
Reilly, meanwhile, has represented the city’s 42nd Ward since 2007. He has denounced Preckwinkle for her role in the overhaul of the county’s property tax system that led to four months of delays for property tax bills and said she should have done more to prepare for cuts imposed by the Trump administration.
With Preckwinkle in the lead shortly before 8 p.m., attendees at her Election Night party at the Little Black Pearl in Kenwood were feeling excited.
Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County Mariyana Spyropoulos said she came to support her colleague because Preckwinkle is “a great leader.” Cook County will be facing financial challenges due to federal cuts, and Spyropoulos said Preckwinkle will know how to work with less.
“I think at a county level, she’s going to have to make sure that those resources go further and provide the services that are necessary,” Spyropoulos said. “I know she’s going to do it.”
The Cook County Board president serves as the county’s CEO. The president oversees a county with a $10 billion budget, more than 22,000 employees, the largest single-site jail and a massive public health system. The president presides over 17-member board meetings, approves or vetoes ordinances or resolutions, and serves as president of the Cook County Forest Preserve District.
At issue, in part, is the uncertain future Cook County’s hospitals and health system face after the Trump administration slashed health care for low- and moderate-income Americans. The cuts will hit the county’s bottom line next year, threatening the ability of more than 400,000 Cook County residents to get necessary health care.
Preckwinkle said she will rely on partnerships with the University of Illinois, Rush University and the University of Chicago.
“We’ll use those partnerships to enhance our own patient care delivery,” Preckwinkle said during a WTTW News forum, noting that the county’s 2026 budget sets aside $320 million from its reserves as well as another $65 million earmarked for Medicaid to offset cuts imposed by the federal government. “We have a well-functioning system. And we put aside reserves to meet the challenges that are ahead of us.”
Reilly said Preckwinkle should have done more to prepare to withstand President Donald Trump’s cuts, which Reilly said could open a $400 million hole in the systems’ budgets during the next two years.
“While I’ll give my opponent some credit for the $65 million set aside for Medicaid stabilization, I would argue that that number needs to be much larger,” Reilly said in that same forum. “My concern is that they haven’t done enough to batten down the hatches knowing that this assault on Medicaid is coming our way.”
The county may need to restructure its debt, dip further into its reserves or ask state lawmakers for help, Reilly said.
Reilly has also taken issue with the county’s property tax system upgrade that, according to the Chicago Tribune and Injustice Watch, has been plagued by delays. The cumulative projected cost of the project, contracted with Tyler Technologies Inc., swelled to more than $250 million while implementation came five years late.
“Tyler Technologies was chosen by each of the six separately elected officials because it was the only company they all agreed could do the work,” Preckwinkle said during the forum with WTTW News. “Although it’s been a tremendous challenge, we’ve gotten the bills out on time and we now have a transparent and accountable system going forward.”
Candidates also have clashed over how to respond to Trump’s aggressive efforts to carry out the largest mass deportation effort in U.S. history.
Reilly voted to relax Chicago’s sanctuary laws just before Trump began his second term as president. Reilly was one of 11 alderpeople to vote to consider a measure that would have allowed CPD officers to cooperate with federal immigration agents seeking to deport anyone arrested on suspicion of “gang-related activities,” “drug-related activities,” “prostitution-related activities” or “sexual crimes involving minors” or convicted of similar felony offenses.
Preckwinkle said that vote means Reilly is the wrong choice to lead Cook County.
“Trump promised mass deportations during the campaign,” Preckwinkle previously told WTTW News. “Why would you vote to weaken the Welcoming City Ordinance before he took office?”
Contact Blair Paddock: @blairpaddock.bsky.social | [email protected]
