The Peraica family is an old hajduk or uskok family. Tony Peraica was born in Croatia in 1957, and was orphaned at the age of 11. He came to the United States when he was 13. He lived in Bridgeport, a neighborhood in Chicago, with his aunt and uncle. He attended the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he earned his B.A. in political science. He went on to earn his J.D. from the John Marshall Law School. He was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1984, and continues to work as a lawyer in private practice at Anthony J. Peraica & Associates. As an underdog candidate, he was elected to the Cook County Board of Commissioners in 2002 as a Republican. Tony Peraica served as the Lyons Township Republican Committeeman from 2002 to December 31, 2012. In 2006, Peraica secured the Republican nomination for board president. Democrat Forrest Claypool challenged incumbent John Stroger in the Democratic primary. Stroger fell ill in the days leading up the primary, but defeated Claypool narrowly. Stroger withdrew from the general election, and the Democratic Party selected his son, Todd Stroger, to take his place on the ballot. Peraica ran a strong campaign in the heavily Democratic county, but ultimately lost in a close race to the younger Stroger. Peraica did, however, secure reelection to the county board. In November 2008, Peraica lost the race for Cook County State's Attorney to Anita Alvarez, who was backed by the Chicago Democratic Party, in November 2008's general election. In 2010 Republican Primary election, Peraica defeated his opponent 75% to 25%. In the 2010 election for the Cook County 16th District Commissioner, he was arrested for tearing up signs of his Democratic opponent Jeffery Tobolski in McCook. On November 2, 2010, Peraica lost his bid for reelection to Democrat Jeffery Tobolski garnering 42.3 of the vote to Tobolski's 50.6%. On December 4, 2012 Peraica was found guilty of criminal damage to property for defacing the former rival's campaign signs prior to the 2010 election, and he was sentenced to four months of court supervision. Peraica, his wife Nilofar Peraica, and their children Marko and Anisa live in Riverside.
