2020 Cook County, Illinois elections


The Cook County, Illinois general election will be held on November 3, 2020. Elections will be held for Clerk of the Circuit Court, State's Attorney, Cook County Board Of Review district 1, three seats on the Water Reclamation District Board, and judgeships in the Circuit Court of Cook County and its subcircuits.
Primary elections, held using the open primary system, took take place on March 17, 2020.

Election information

The primaries and general elections for Cook County races coincided with those for federal races and those for state elections.

Voter turnout

For the primaries, turnout was 33.54%, with 1,037,951 ballots cast. The ballots cast comprised 957,791 Democratic, 79,669 Republican, and 491 nonpartisan primary ballots. Turnout in the city of Chicago was 37.78%, while turnout in suburban Cook County was 29.42%.
Turnout in the primaries was considered to be low for a presidential primary. The low turnout was attributed by many to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The potentially suppressed turnout of election-day voting as a result of virus concerns was partially offset by high in-person early voting and mail-in ballot numbers. 339,000 people cast early votes, a record number, with Chicago seeing 172,000, and the rest of Cook County seeing 167,000 early votes, a record for each jurisdiction. The election also saw a record number of requests made for mail-in ballots, with both Chicago and the rest of Cook County seeing numbers of requests surpassing any previous election. In Chicago there were 118,000 such requests, with over 80,000 mail-in ballots ultimately being returned and counted. In suburban Cook County, 47,652 mail-in ballots were returned, setting a record. In Chicago, 45% of votes cast were either early votes or votes by mail. In suburban Cook County, 56% of votes cast were either early votes or votes by mail.

Clerk of the Circuit Court

The incumbent fifth-term Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Dorothy Brown, announced in 2019 that she would not run for re-election. Brown had been the subject of a federal corruption investigation when she made the announcement.
The last Republican to hold this office was Brown's immediate predecessor Aurelia Pucinski, who, while elected a Democrat in each of her elections to the office, had switched parties in her final term.

Primaries

Democratic

All four candidates in the Democratic Party primary for the office pledged to modernize the office and to address corruption.
;Candidates
The following candidates ran for the Democratic Party nomination for Clerk of the Circuit Court:
;Endorsements
;Polls
Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin
of error		Richard
Boykin		Michael
Cabonargi		Iris Y.
Martinez		Jacob
Meister		Undecided
ALG ResearchFebruary 9–12, 2020500± 4.412%4%15%3%65%
Fako Research & Strategies Late-January, 202013%4%11%3%69%

;Results

Republican

;Candidates
The following candidates ran for the Republican party nomination for Clerk of the Circuit Court:
CandidateExperienceCampaignRef
Barbara Ruth BellarCandidate for Illinois State Senate in 2012
Candidate for Illinois House of Representatives in 2010

;Write-in candidates
;Results

General election

State's Attorney

Incumbent Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, who was first elected in 2016, is running for re-election. She defeated three opponents in the Democratic primary. She will face Republican Pat O'Brien in the general election.
Only Democrats have held this office ever since Richard A. Devine unseated Republican Jack O'Malley in 1996.

Primaries

Democratic

Incumbent Kim Foxx faced three opponents in the, two former Assistant State's Attorneys, Bill Conway and Donna More, and former Chicago alderman Bob Fioretti.
The money spent in the Democratic primary made this the most expensive State's Attorney election in Cook County to date. Conway raised $11.9 million in campaign funds, most of which is from his father William E. Conway's cumulative donations of $10.5 million. Foxx raised $2.8 million, and her biggest donors include Fred Eychaner and the political action committee of SEIU Illinois. More raised $406,000 and Fioretti raised $20,000.
;Candidates
The following candidates ran for the Democratic Party nomination for State's Attorney:
;Endorsements
;Polls
Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin
of error		Bill
Conway		Bob
Fioretti		Kim
Foxx		Donna
More		Undecided
WGN-TV/Emerson College/NexstarMarch 11–12, 2020567± 4.120.3%4.3%36.3%4.8%34.2%
Ogden & FryMarch 7, 2020466± 4.6331.7%9.0%48.2%11.1%–
Ogden & FryMarch 7, 2020466± 4.6319.5%4.2%33.0%5.8%37.5%
Anzalone Liszt Grove ResearchFebruary 13–16, 2020600± 4.026%5%28%4%
Anzalone Liszt Grove ResearchJanuary 22, 202016%8%32%5%
Anzalone Liszt Grove ResearchDecember 8, 201914%11%36%6%

;Results

Republican

Pat O'Brien defeated Christopher Pfannkuche. Pfannkuche had been the Republican nominee for State's Attorney in 2016.
;Candidates
The following candidates ran for the Republican party nomination for State's Attorney:
CandidateExperienceCampaignRef
Pat O'BrienFormer Judge, Cook County Circuit Court 1st Municipal District
Christopher PfannkucheLawyer

;Write-in candidates
;Endorsements
;Results

General election

Cook County Board of Review

In the 2020 Cook County Board of Review election, one seat, Republican-held, out of its three seats is up for election. Incumbent Dan Patlak is seeking reelection.
The Cook County Board of Review has its three seats rotate the length of terms. In a staggered fashion, the seats rotate between two consecutive four-year terms and a two-year term.

1st district

Incumbent second-term Cook County Board of Review Commissioner for the 1st district, Dan Patlak, a Republican last reelected in 2016, is running for reelection. This election is to a two-year term.

Primaries

Democratic
;Candidates
The following candidates ran for the Democratic Party nomination:
CandidateExperienceCampaignRef
Abdelnasser RashidFormer Deputy Chief of Staff for former Cook County Clerk David Orr
Former Chief Policy Officer for Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi
Tammy WendtAttorney and real estate agent

;Endorsements
;Results
Republican
;Candidates
The following candidates ran for the Republican party nomination:
CandidateExperienceCampaignRef
Dan PatlakIncumbent
Former Assessor of Wheeling Township

;Results

General election

Water Reclamation District Board

Three of the nine seats on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago board are up for election in 2020. Each winning candidate will serve a six-year term on the board. All candidates will appear together on the ballot, and voters can vote for up to three candidates.
All three incumbents are Democrats. Incumbents Kimberly Neely Dubuclet and Cam Davis will be on the ballot in the general election, while incumbent Frank Avila lost renomination.

Primaries

Democratic

;Candidates
The following candidates are running for the Democratic Party nomination:
The following candidates were removed from the ballot:
;Results

Republican

No candidates were included on the ballot in the Republican primary. While two official write-in candidates did run, neither received a sufficient share of the vote for them to win nomination.
;Write-in candidates
;Results

Green

The Green Party nominated Troy Hernandez, Tammie Vinson, and Rachel Wales.

General election

Judicial elections

Partisan elections will be held to fill 13 judgeships in the Circuit Court of Cook County and 21 judgeships in subcircuits of the court. There are Democratic Party candidates for all 34 elections, whereas the Republican primary has been canceled for all but two vacancies. Retention elections will also be held for judgeships on these courts.