A City that Works’ Guide to the 2026 March Primaries

Recommendations for competent governance and sensible ideas

Source: Dean Wampler via Flickr. Creative Commons License.

The 2026 Illinois primary is coming up on Tuesday, March 17th, with early voting in Chicago opening on February 12th.

We think you should vote, and if you’re a reader of this blog you probably do too. You can check your voter registration here (note that online registration ends March 1st), and you can find your polling place here.

If you live in Chicago, we’d especially encourage you to vote in the Democratic Primary. Illinois has an open primary system, meaning you’re allowed to ask for any party’s ballot and you don’t need to be registered with a particular party to do so. There are also realistically no competitive races in the Republican, Libertarian, or Green Party Primaries and winners of Democratic primaries around here are nearly certain to win the general elections in November.

With that said, here’s our official slate of recommendations for the races you’ll find on your ballot in Chicago. Consistent with our guides in past elections, our endorsements reflect a few beliefs:

1. We by and large prioritize competent, prudent and sensible candidates who will be able to navigate tradeoffs and govern effectively over more ideologically extreme candidates.

2. At the federal level, we believe our country is facing a dangerous national landscape. We think that means Illinois should send Representatives and Senators to Washington who will effectively push back on Donald Trump. But it also means we should build a party that is focused on actually governing effectively, and doesn’t take such extreme positions that it drags down democrats running for must-win seats in places like Iowa, Michigan or Ohio.

3. We think some of the issues we focus on (pensions and housing especially), have historically gotten short shrift from elected officials, resulting in serious fiscal and affordability crises. We’re interested in candidates who are willing to tackle those crises head on.

We’re also not necessarily weighing in on every race on the ballot (particularly those at the federal level). List is below, and full write-ups follow that.

Statewide Races

• US Senate: Raja Krishnamoorthi

• Illinois Comptroller: Holly Kim

Congressional Candidates

• IL-02 (South Side, South Suburbs, and Kankakee, Iroquois, and Vermillion Counties): Donna Miller

• IL-07 (Downtown and West Side): Anthony Driver Jr.

• IL-09 (For North Side, Evanston, Glenview, Skokie and Wilmette): Daniel Biss

State Senate

• IL-06 (Lakeview): Sara Feigenholtz

• IL-09 (Glenview, Wilmette and Evanston): Patrick Hanley

• IL-14 (South Suburbs): Ahmed Karrar

State House

• IL-1 (Archer Heights and Brighton Park): Guadalupe Rivera

• IL-4 (Austin, Belmont Cragin and Hermosa): No endorsement

• IL-8 (Austin, Garfield Park and Western Suburbs): Jill Bush

• IL-12 (Lincoln Park): Paul Kendrick OR Mac LeBuhn

• IL-13 (Uptown and Lincoln Square): James O’Brien

• IL-26 (South Shore to Gold Coast): Kam Buckner

• IL-34 (Far South Side and South Suburbs): Cleopatra Crowley

• IL-40 (Avondale and Logan Square): Jamie Andrade Jr.

County Races

• County Board President: No endorsement

• County Assessor: Fritz Kaegi

• Cook County Board, 2nd District: Michael Scott Jr.

• Cook County Board, 5th District: Kiana Belcher

• Cook County Board, 6th District: Patricia Joan Murphy

• Cook County Board, 8th District: Nicholas Cade

• Cook County Board, 10th District: Drake Warren

• Cook County Board, 12th District: Jose ‘Che Che’ Turrubiartez Wilson

• Cook County Board, 16th District: Frank Aguilar

• Cook County Board of Review, 1st District: Juanita Irizarry

• Cook County Board of Review, 2nd District: Elizabeth Liz Nicholson

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District

• Eira Lizeth Corral Sepulveda, Sarah Bury, and Precious Brady-Davis

Judges

• Circuit Court (Vacancy of Cobbs): Linda Sackey

• Circuit Court (Vacancy of Coghlan): Michael Cabonargi

• 1st Subcircuit (Vacancy of Balanoff): Radiance Ward

• 1st Subcircuit (Vacancy of Walker): Ginger Odom

• 3rd Subcircuit (Vacancy of Sherlock): Rachel Marrello

• 8th Subcircuit (Vacancy of Gamrath): Elizabeth Christina Dibler

• 8th Subcircuit (Vacancy of Mikva): Lester Finkle

• 11th Subcircuit (Vacancy of McLean Meyerson): Jarrett Knox

• 17th Subcircuit (Converted from AJ of Brooks): No recommendation

• 17th Subcircuit (Converted from AJ of Carroll): Bianca Brown

• 19th Subcircuit (Converted from AJ of Kane): Dave Condron

• 20th Subcircuit (Converted from AJ of Miller): Belle Katubig

Statewide Races

US Senate: Vote for Raja Krishnamoorthi.

This is a three way race between Reps Raja Krishnamoorthi, Robin Kelly, and Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton. Any of these candidates would be solid, but Krishnamoorthi is the right pick. He’s a staunch progressive who first went to work for Barack Obama in 2000, and had a few stints in state government before being elected to Congress in 2017. But Krishnamoorthi also has a pragmatic streak that we admire. In Congress, he’s been a leader on national security issues. He’s also staked out the appropriate approach on ICE - calling for dismantling of the agency in its current form (“abolish Trump’s ICE”), rather than calling for an all-out abolition of the agency. That’s the approach Democrats should take, for both policy and political reasons (there will need to be some version of interior immigration enforcement in the future, many of the abuses being committed today are by DHS instead of ICE, and taking extreme positions on this issue is a gift to Republicans in swing states). But Raja has taken a beating from Stratton on the issue, who’s trying to outleft him. All three candidates would be solid Democrats, but we’ll support the pragmatist who’s not going to drag down democrats in other races.

Illinois Comptroller: Vote for Holly Kim.

This job, which involves managing and paying the state’s bills, probably shouldn’t be an elected office at all. But given that it is, Holly Kim is the right pick. She’s currently the Lake County Treasurer, where by all accounts she’s done a solid job. The other three candidates are all state legislators. Of them, Margaret Croke is a particularly promising leader for Illinois, who’s done a lot of good work in the state legislature. But unfortunately, Croke and the other two candidates for this seat all voted to saddle Chicago with $11 billion in additional pension debt as part of an oversized “fix” for Tier 2 workers. We like Croke, but think that vote should be disqualifying for anyone hoping to manage the state’s finances.

Congressional Candidates

IL-02 (South Side, South Suburbs, and Kankakee, Iroquois, and Vermillion Counties): Vote for Donna Miller.

This is the seat currently occupied by Kelly. We think you should support Donna Miller, a Cook County Commissioner and former Planned Parenthood Board Chair. She’s running a campaign focused on healthcare and affordability. The other contenders in this race either voted to saddle Chicago with $11B in unfunded pension debt (State Senators Robert Peters and Willie Preston) last year, or have a long and troubled legal history (Former US Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.).

IL-07 (Downtown and West Side): Anthony Driver Jr.

This is the primary to replace retiring US Rep. Danny Davis, and there’s a long list of candidates running. We have long been fans of Anthony Driver Jr., a labor leader who has been a fair-minded and smart leader of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA). Driver seems to care a lot more about outcomes than political posturing, and has done a lot of good work to explain police procedures and hard tradeoffs to the public at large. He’s also been endorsed by Abundant Housing Illinois, which is a nice plus as far as we’re concerned. Thomas Fisher is a very impressive ER doctor endorsed by the Tribune, and he merits your consideration as well. But Driver’s political experience and willingness to lean into hard choices makes him our pick.

IL-09 (For North Side, Evanston, Glenview, Skokie and Wilmette): Daniel Biss.

This is a race to fill the seat of retiring US Rep. Jan Schakwosky. Half the north shore is running, but there’s a clear pick. Daniel Biss is a leader who, time and again, sticks neck out to do the hard, important work of governing. Biss was a leader on pension reform way back as a state legislator (and paid for it dearly when he tried to run for Governor). More recently, he’s pushed forward with an ambitious upzoning plan in Evanston that would help make that town more affordable, diverse, and vibrant. He’s been endorsed by Schakowsky and Abundant Housing Illinois, and gets our backing as well. State Sen. Laura Fine is running as a more moderate Democrat, and Mike Simmons is running to the left. There’s reasons to like both of them, but neither has taken the sort of principled stands Biss has. Instead, in the last legislative session, they both voted to saddle Chicago with $11B in pension debt. The other contender in this race is Kat Abughazaleh, a 27-year old influencer who parachuted into the district to run and doesn’t seem particularly qualified for the job.

State Senate

IL-06 (Lakeview): Vote for Sara Feigenholtz.

Sara Feigenholtz has done a solid job representing this district. She’s been a leader on healthcare and LGBTQ rights in Springfield, and has also been a strong partner on housing issues. We particularly like the Yes In God’s Backyard (YIGBY) bill she’s filed this session to make it possible for religious institutions to build more housing - and add bonus points to the single stair bill she filed more recently with Kam Buckner. Her challenger, Nick Uniejewski, is a really nice guy who we like personally. But he’s trying to challenge her from the far left, and we don’t think that’s really what this district needs. We have a hard time believing he’d be as effective as she is in the state legislature as Feigenholtz, and while we like a lot of his pro-growth initiatives, it’s concerning to see him go to bat for rent control alongside a bunch of other sensible ideas.

IL-09 (Glenview, Wilmette and Evanston): Vote for Patrick Hanley.

This is an open race to fill Laura Fine’s seat, and two solid candidates are running here. Patrick Hanley is our pick. He’s been working to build a modern and ambitious Democratic party for a while now, and co-founded Operation Swing State, which knocked tens of thousands of doors in Wisconsin and Michigan on behalf of Democrats in the 2024 election. Hanley has a strong housing platform, an ambitious growth agenda for the state, and seems to be reckoning seriously with our fiscal challenges. He’s been endorsed by retiring Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, Abundant Housing Illinois and the Chicago Tribune. His opponent, Rachel Ruttenberg, is a capable and long-time public servant. But we’re excited by Hanley’s energy and ambition.

IL-14 (South Suburbs): Vote for Ahmed Karrar

The incumbent here, Emil Jones III, is fresh off a deferred prosecution agreement to avoid a retrial on charges that he took bribes from a red light camera operator. Ahmed Karrar doesn’t appear to have a campaign website, but he is a real guy running as a progressive and knocking doors in the district. He gets the Tribune’s endorsement, and ours as well.

State House

IL-1 (Archer Heights and Brighton Park): Vote for Guadalupe Rivera.

The incumbent in this one, Aaron Ortiz, skipped out of the 2024 legislative session early, leaving Speaker Chris Welch short of a quorum. His challenger, Guadalupe Rivera, doesn’t seem to be far apart on the ideological spectrum, but has a much clearer view of some of the housing and affordability issues hitting the district. We also think she’ll stick around Springfield until the legislative session wraps up. She’s endorsed by Abundant Housing Illinois, the Chicago Tribune, and us as well.

IL-4 (Austin, Belmont Cragin and Hermosa): No endorsement.

The incumbent, Lilian Jimenez, is a staunch progressive. We don’t have a major issue with her overall record (well, beyond that pension vote). The problem is that she’s the Chair of the Housing Committee, which failed to advance either of the state’s major housing reforms in the last session to the floor. We hope she comes around on this issue. Unfortunately, her challenger, Kirk Ortiz, is a perennial candidate who doesn’t have much of a governing agenda.

IL-8 (Austin, Garfield Park and western suburbs): Vote for Jill Bush.

There are four candidates running in this one: Latyona Mitts, a community activist and daughter of Alderman Emma Mitts, pastor Bruce Harrell, Jill Bush, the community engagement director for Alderman Chris Taliaferro, and Shantel Franklin, a realtor and staffer in the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. Mitts and Harrell are both running campaigns that don’t provide a lot of details on their issues or desired policies. There’s a lot to like about Franklin, and her thoughtful approach to housing has won her the support of Abundant Housing Illinois and the Chicago Growth Project. The problem for us is that half her campaign funding ($72,500) has come from the Chicago Teacher’s Union. It’s hard to believe that she’d be able to navigate some of the hard choices in Springfield with that backing. That leaves Jill Bush, who has a solid career across the public and private sectors, a thoughtful approach to a range of issues, and strong roots in the district. We’re quite happy to endorse her.

IL-12 (Lincoln Park): Vote for Paul Kendrick OR Mac LeBuhn.

There’s two good candidates running here, one perfectly fine alternative, and then a real wildcard. Mac LeBuhn is a good government type, who worked in the Lightfoot campaign to tackle the problem of aldermanic prerogative. Paul Kendrick is an Obama alum, with stints in Democratic organizing including leading Rust Belt Rising (a group working to elect moderate Democrats), and the local Indivisible chapter. He’s running a little more to the center than LeBuhn, and has been honest about the need to tackle issues like pensions head-on. Kendrick’s been endorsed by the outgoing State Rep. (Margaret Croke), the Tribune and Abundant Housing Illinois, along with most of the alders in the Ward. LeBuhn has been endorsed by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the Chicago Growth Project and a range of good government alders. It’s hard to go wrong with either. Litcy Kurinskal has done a lot of valuable organizing for Democrats, but doesn’t have the policy chops of either LeBuhn or Kendrick. The fourth candidate in the race, Karim Lakhani, launched his campaign from Skokie, and has staked out a set of pretty far left positions. Ironically, in college he was a pretty active Republican before switching parties. That’s fine, but we’re kind of surprised that he somehow also won the endorsement of the Chicago Teacher’s Union. Go figure - and vote for LeBuhn or Kendrick.

IL-13 (Uptown and Lincoln Square): Vote for James O’Brien.

You should be excited about James O’Brien. He’s got a long and successful career in local government, and is open about tackling the state’s financial and housing challenges. He’s also been endorsed by Abundant Housing Illinois, the Chicago Growth Project, and the Tribune. Adam Braun is a former Executive Deputy Attorney General, who would also probably be fine in this seat, but it’s antithetical to everything we believe in to try to slow the CTA down near your house because it’s too noisy.¹ The other candidates in this one lean pretty far to the left, and don’t seem to reckon with the tradeoffs associated with the positions they’re taking.

IL-26 (South Shore to Gold Coast): Vote for Kam Buckner.

Kam Buckner has been a leader on housing and transportation issues at state level since he was elected. He’s a smart, forward-thinking legislator and we’d be excited to see him return to Springfield. We’ve got nothing against his challenger, Kenya Franklin, but it’s refreshing to see a State Rep walk the walk on some tough issues - and those are the folks we want to have stick around.

IL-34 (Far South Side and South Suburbs): Cleopatra Crowley

Aja Kearney has been around the block, and has a long political track record, most recently serving as political director to Rep. Marcus Evans. She’s also backed by the Chicago Teacher’s Union. Her opponent, Cleopatra Crowley, is the mom of Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year old girl who was shot to death soon after performing at President Barack Obama’s second inauguration. Since, Crowley has been a powerful advocate for gun violence prevention. She’s also backed by US Rep. Robin Kelly, Ald. Michelle Harris, and the Chicago Tribune. She gets our endorsement as well.

IL-40 (Avondale and Logan Square): Vote for Jamie Andrade Jr.

Jamie Andrade Jr. has been a solid representative for this district, and a reliable vote to support some of the pro-housing reforms that the rapidly-gentrifying Northwest side desperately needs. He’s a good guy, and works as a union stagehand when he’s not in Springfield. He’s also been endorsed by the Chicago Tribune and Abundant Housing Illinois. That has not stopped left-leaning groups from trying to knock him off. His challenger, Miguel Avelo-Rivera, is endorsed by the Chicago Teacher’s Union, along with a swathe of Northwest Side progressives. It’s politics, so of course there’s some untenable asks in Avelo-Rivera’s campaign platform. But his approach on issues from housing to economic growth doesn’t reflect the economic and budgetary realities of the state.

County Races

County Board President: No endorsement

In the race for Cook County Board President, A City That Works is a house divided. There is a case to be made for both candidates, and the two of us feel differently as to which of those cases is stronger. Rather than force a pick, we’ll make the case for each and let you decide.

Conor: The Case for Brendan Reilly

This newsletter has generally been positive about Toni Preckwinkle’s tenure as Cook County Board President. She inherited a county government that was a fiscal and managerial disaster under Todd Stroger and has done a great job turning it around. But her record isn’t perfect. Most recently, it’s hard to ignore the Tyler Technologies debacle. A decade-long IT overhaul has turned into a disaster costing various municipal governments - most prominently CPS - over $100 million in interest on short-term loans and lost investment income. Preckwinkle has pointed blame at the Assessor, the Treasurer, and Tyler itself, but the County Board authorized the contract and her Bureau of Technology oversaw the implementation. The buck has to stop somewhere, and after sixteen years, it stops with her.

It’s also really hard for me to ignore her political legacy in elevating others through her role as leader of the Cook County Democratic Party. This is most obviously the case for Kim Foxx, who served as her chief of staff prior to serving for two terms as Cook County State’s Attorney. I have a hard time viewing Foxx’s tenure as anything other than an abject failure under which the office swung far too hard away from prioritizing public safety and deterring crime (it’s also notable, I think, that Preckwinkle campaigned against current State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke, who we both like, in the campaign to replace Foxx). She also played a role in bringing us Brandon Johnson, who has not exactly been a model of governance in his time leading Chicago. A reasonable voter can conclude that Preckwinkle’s judgment on people hasn’t matched her judgment on budgets. Finally, to be blunt: she is 79 years old. As we’ve highlighted before, it’s a good thing when politicians recognize that it’s time to move on. Cook County deserves new energy, and the problems facing the county demand a leader who’s building something rather than defending a legacy.

Alderman Brendan Reilly is not a wholly uncontroversial choice. We wish he had a stronger record on housing, and we also wish he’d spent more time in council building a more constructive counter-agenda rather than serving primarily as an antagonist to Brandon Johnson. But he’s done a lot of good in his tenure representing the 42nd Ward since 2007. He’s got a good record as a pro-business, pro-taxpayer moderate who’s been a consistent voice against tax hikes and for economic growth. His instincts on public finance are sound, and he has some good ideas for reforming the Cook County Land Bank. His emphasis on accountability for the Tyler Technologies mess is warranted. His pro-growth, pro-business orientation is the right posture for a county that absolutely desperately needs to be making it easier to live and do business here, not harder. The Cook County Board has no shortage of strong progressive voices, but it could certainly use more pro-growth ones - and Reilly offers that.

Richard: The Case for Toni Preckwinkle

County government is rarely as exciting as City Hall or the Statehouse. That’s a credit to Toni Preckwinkle. Preckwinkle took the helm of a cartoonishly corrupt and mismanaged piece of local government. She’s cleaned house in dramatic and creative ways: saving a healthcare system that was bleeding red ink by turning it into a financially sustainable Medicaid managed care provider, transforming the Forest Preserve District into something we can all be proud of, and leveraging federal Covid-aid without creating a post-pandemic cliff. The results have been cleaner government, no property tax increases, and rising pension balances.

That’s the sort of tough and smart leadership we should reward. Notably, the Cook County Board President isn’t a powerful executive position with all the trappings of the Mayor or Governor – Preckwinkle has accomplished a lot of this by dint of smart politics, a willingness to make tough choices, and her leadership in the Cook County Democratic Party. Even if you like Brendan Reilly’s ideological positions more, you should consider the possibility that he’d get worse results – and be rolled by less responsible members of the Board.

Preckwinkle has made some mistakes, but that would be true of any leader in her role for 16 years. It’s also worth noting that the Tyler Technologies fiasco is a case of her trying to clean up someone else’s mess. The Cook County Board President isn’t responsible for the property tax system, but Preckwinkle stepped in to try to fix the issue, and has been caught in the infighting between the Assessor, Board of Review, Treasurer and County Clerk. While I wish she hadn’t endorsed Brandon Johnson, she only did so in the runoff, when plenty of other electeds did as well. And while she’s 79 years old, she’s still got it - I’d encourage you to watch her debate with Reilly.

Meanwhile, Reilly is running as the anti-Preckwinkle. That’s not enough. I’m glad he’s stood up to the Mayor, but he doesn’t have the track record of consensus building necessary to steer the Cook County Board. He has fewer scars because he hasn’t had to make as many hard choices. And his strong ties to the most conservative members of the City Council also raise issues - Reilly voted to increase cooperation with ICE just days before Operation Midway Blitz was announced. Toni Preckwinkle has done an excellent job as Cook County Board Chair, and she’s the person you’d want in the seat when the next crisis hits.

We respect both cases and candidates. Vote your priorities.

County Assessor: Vote Fritz Kaegi

Incumbent Fritz Kaegi is running for re-election as Cook County Assessor and facing a primary challenge from Lyons Township Assessor Pat Hynes, who worked in the Cook County assessor’s office for over 20 years. We get the impression that Kaegi is not a particularly popular guy these days. In many ways that’s probably an inevitable part of the job of county assessor, particularly when you hold that job at the same time that a lot of commercial property values in Chicago are tanking: you get held responsible for hiking property taxes that every other body of government is actually levying.

But by and large we think Kaegi’s done a pretty decent job at a thankless task. In contrast, our impression of Pat Hynes is that he’s far more comfortable with how the Assessor’s office was run under Kaegi’s predecessor Joe Berrios. We are not, and agree with the Tribune that Hynes is not the solution to any problems you might have with the assessor’s office.

Cook County Board, 2nd District: Vote Michael Scott Jr.

The 2nd District encompasses portions of Chicago’s West and South Sides, running from roughly the Near West Side/West Loop into the loop and then following 90/94 down to Englewood. It’s currently represented by Michael Scott Jr., who was appointed to the seat in 2024 after the death of incumbent Dennis Deer. Prior to that, Scott had been alderman in the 24th Ward on Chicago’s West Side (it’s now represented by his sister Monique Scott).

Scott is being challenged by Andre Smith, a perennial candidate who last ran and lost for the CPS board District 6 seat in November 2024 (after losing his primary race for State Representative District 5 in March 2024). I appreciate his enthusiasm, but don’t think he seems like a particularly formidable challenger. Scott’s been a competent commissioner thus far, and we don’t have a good reason to tell you not to vote for him.

Cook County Board, 5th District: Vote Kiana Belcher

The 5th District encompasses parts of Chicago’s South side and large stretches of the south and southwest suburbs, all the way down to Olympia Fields and Park Forest. It’s currently represented by Kisha McCaskill, who’s also executive director of the Harvey Park District and was appointed to the seat last January. McCaskill has spent her time in office doing some good work, like fighting for expanded healthcare service in the south suburbs. She’s also not without controversy; as Harvey World Herald reported last March, she’s received over $30,000 as a consultant for the Harvey Library (where her husband is Board President). That’s a tough look.

She’s being challenged by Kiana Belcher, a Dolton village trustee who was among those standing up to former Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard over financial mismanagement issues in the village. I like that record of challenging entrenched power, so Belcher strikes me as worth voting for.

Cook County Board, 6th District: Vote for Patricia Joan Murphy

The 6th District is entirely in south suburban Cook County, encompassing suburbs including Tinley Park, Frankfort, Homewood, and South Chicago Heights. It’s currently represented by Donna Miller who was elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022 but is vacating the seat to run for Congress in Illinois’s second Congressional District.

In total, five candidates are running in the Democratic Primary. Sylvester Fulcher is a senior administrator at Illinois DCFS with a very limited campaign profile. Antoine Bass is a realtor whose campaign has raised $20 per Illinois Sunshine, though his website does feature this sweet YouTube video featuring a timelapse of a cold winter day (we strongly endorse that video). Veronica Bolling-Franklin is a school board member whose campaign website doesn’t feature anything except a donate button (the ‘Meet the Candidate’ section is quite literally blank).

That leaves Patricia Joan Murphy and Wesam Shahed. Murphy is the daughter of the late former Commissioner Joan Murphy, who held this seat until her death in 2016. She’s currently a supervisor for Worth Township and was endorsed by both Donna Miller and Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, as well as a myriad of more local politicians. Shahed is an attorney who worked in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office under Kim Foxx, then served as a senior legislative council to the Illinois Attorney General. His endorsement list reads as a who’s who of more left-wing progressive groups in Chicago/Illinois To be honest, neither of these candidates has that much of an explicit policy agenda outlined, but going off of their backers this race seems to boil down to a more establishment moderate candidate against a more progressive left-wing candidate. We’ll go for the moderate.

Cook County Board, 8th District: Vote Nicholas Cade

The 8th District encompasses some of Chicago’s near-west/northwest sides, including Logan Square, Humboldt Park, Bucktown, Belmont Cragin, and surrounding neighborhoods. Jessica Vásquez is the incumbent, appointed in May 2025 in a game of musical chairs after former Commissioner Anthony Quezada was appointed Alderman in the 35th Ward (replacing her former boss Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, who was in turn appointed head of the Chicago Park District). She’s being challenged by Nicholas Cade, an attorney in Irving Park.

Much of Vasquez’s platform is pretty unobjectionable - protecting Cook County Health is important, and she’s been a great leader in protecting immigrant communities - but it’s pretty notable seeing her platform reference housing justice and property tax relief without a word about supporting building more housing. That, coupled with her path to the seat as Chief of Staff for former Ald. Ramirez-Rosa, gives us a lot of pause.

Nicholas Cade’s platform is quite different. He’s been endorsed by both Abundant Housing Illinois and the Chicago Growth Project, which should signal to you his focus on a housing-forward, build-more orientation that this rapidly gentrifying district needs. We need more elected officials who will be singularly focused on expanding economic growth and opportunity in their districts, and Cade seems like one such candidate. He deserves your vote.

Cook County Board, 10th District: Vote Drake Warren

The 10th District encompasses much of Chicago’s North side, including Lakeview, Uptown, Rogers Park, Edgewater and Lincoln Square before stretching out west towards O’Hare. Bridget Gainer is the incumbent, being elected four times since appointment in 2009. She has arguably one of the most substantive policy records of anyone on the board, helping to create the Cook County Land Bank Authority, chairing the pension and business development committees, and working on pension transparency.

On the other hand, she’s doing this all part-time, as she’s also the Global Head of Public Affairs and Policy at Aon. That’s not disqualifying, but it’s at least worth asking whether voters deserve someone who will give the job their undivided attention, if a good such candidate exists.

We think Drake Warren is such a candidate. Warren is first-time candidate and consultant at West Monroe who’s also an active housing advocate. He’s been endorsed by Abundant Housing Illinois and the Chicago Growth Project, and his platform emphasizes a lot of cost-of-living measures that we like. We respect Gainer’s record enormously, and we’d encourage Warren to continue her best work - particularly on pensions and the Land Bank. But sixteen years is a long time in office, and the district would benefit from a full-time commissioner with fresh energy and a housing-first agenda.

Cook County Board, 12th District: Vote for Jose ‘Che Che’ Turrubiartez Wilson

The 12th District follows the North Branch of the Chicago River from Streeterville up through the North and Northwest sides - including portions of River North, WIcker Park, Bucktown, Lincoln Park, Roscoe Village, Lincoln Square, and Portage Park. Incumbent Bridget Degnen is retiring.

The frontrunner in this race is Elizabeth Granato, who runs the Cook County Bureau of Asset Management. She’s got a lot of experience working in the public sector, but it’s hard to ignore her many political family ties (she’s the daughter of former Alder Jesse Granato and wife of State Senator Ram Villivalam), which leave us looking a bit askance. She’s running against Isaiah White and José “Che-Che” Turrubiartez Wilson. White is a CPS teacher who we know to be a good guy, and he’s got a very solid platform of ideas. But we’re a bit more worried about the viability of his candidacy. Wilson has a similarly strong platform and a long track record in healthcare and community advocacy. His endorsers include many names we respect a great deal, including Alders Scott Waguespack, Timmy Knudsen, and Bennett Lawson, and we think he’d be a great addition to the Cook County Board.

Cook County Board, 16th District: Vote for Frank Aguilar

The 16th District is a predominantly Latino ward covering some of Cook County’s southwest and west suburbs, plus a small portion of Chicago on the southwest side. It’s currently represented by Frank Aguilar, who has held the seat since 2020. He’s being challenged by Leticia Garcia and Miranda Hernandez. Garcia is a repeat challenger who lost to Aguilar in the 2022 primary. Her campaign site is pretty thin on details. Hernandez is an attorney with a long record of public service as a staffer in the US Senate, US House, and Cook County State’s Attorney Office. She’s also the daughter of State Representative and Democratic Party of Illinois Chair Elizabeth Hernandez.

Our impression is that Aguilar has done a pretty good job serving the district thus far, and neither challenger seems to have a compelling vision for why they’d do better. We’d love to see Aguilar do more - particularly in his role as chair of the Zoning & Building Committee, which has a fairly narrow scope in practice but could be used as a platform for thinking about housing supply and land use reform in Cook County - but we don’t have a compelling reason for voters to change direction here.

Cook County Board of Review, 1st District: Vote Juanita Irizarry

While the Cook County assessor is responsible for determining property values in the county, the County Board of Review is the entity responsible for overseeing appeals to those assessments. District 1 consists of the suburbs northwest of O’Hare, some of the West Side including Belmont Cragin and Hermosa, and nearly all of Cook County that’s South or West of Chinatown (all the way from Bridgeport to Palos Heights). It’s currently represented by George Cardenas, former 12th ward Alderman who was elected to the seat in 2022. He’s being challenged by Juanita Irizarry, former executive director of Friends of the Parks, the group which protects the Chicago lakefront from any developments and is perhaps best known for killing the Geoge Lucas Museum.

If I’m being honest, I don’t think much of Friends of the Parks, a group which I think can often do more bad than good. But she has a great deal of experience working in housing policy in Cook County, and a track record of standing up to powerful interests is a useful trait to have on the Board of Reviews. We also like the fact that unlike Cardenas, her campaign is not accepting funding from property tax attorneys (the original sin of Cook County property tax politics). Ultimately the Board of Review is more about ethics and independence than ideology, and while she seems further to the left than we’d like, we think Irizarry would bring positive change to the Board of Review. She deserves your vote.

Cook County Board of Review, 2nd District: Vote Elizabeth Liz Nicholson

District 2 consists of most of Chicago’s North and Northwest Sides plus Cook County’s northern suburbs (anything east of O’Hare). It’s currently represented by Samantha Steele. To put it plainly, Steele had one of the most catastrophic first terms in recent Cook County memory. She is not qualified to serve in any public service capacity at any level of government for any entity in the United States of America.

In October 2024, the Cook County Inspector General found that Steele violated ethics rules by leaking confidential information regarding the Chicago Bears’ Arlington Heights tax appeal. In November 2024, after crashing her car on the North Side she was arrested for DUI after identifying herself to police officers as an elected official and repeatedly refusing a sobriety test. In January 2025, Cook County paid $180,000 to settle a federal whistleblower case brought against Steele and the Board of Review by Frank Calabrese, a former employee who alleged he was wrongfully terminated after cooperating with the IG’s office. In October 2025, a Cook County Inspector General report found that she failed to disclose outside consulting work - she runs a property valuation consulting business - and government positions on her Statement of Economic Interests, a ‘breach of fiduciary duty.’ In December 2025, Liz Nicholson - Steele’s challenger in this primary - alleged that Steele offered her a six-figure job in the Board of Review office to drop out of the race.

Nicholson seems to have a competent enough record, with a background in public administration and consulting. But even if she didn’t, she’d still be many many miles better than Samantha Steele, and it seems patently obvious who the right choice in this race is. Vote for Nicholson. Please.

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District: Vote for Eira Lizeth Corral Sepulveda, Sarah Bury, and Precious Brady-Davis.

The MWRD is the government entity responsible for managing the sewage system in Cook County, handling both waste- and stormwater. There are four candidates running for three seats, so you get to vote for three of them. Eira Lizeth Corral Sepulveda, Precious Brady-Davis, and Beth Mcelroy Kirkwood are three incumbents seeking reelection. Sarah Bury is a challenger.

Based on credentials, Bury has the clearest credentials and experience in water management. She seems like a good fit for the board. Of the incumbents, Corral Sepulveda has the longest tenure, seems like she’s doing a good job, and has relevant municipal experience as well (she’s also Village Clerk for Hanover Park). They both definitely deserve your vote. The other two seems less clear to me. Kirkwood has been on the board for about two months and mostly seems like a party loyalist; Brady-Davis is in her third year on the board and has a background primarily in communications and advocacy work. We’d recommend Brady-Davis as your third choice.

Judges

In the interest of brevity, our descriptions of each recommendation are a bit shorter here - most of our recommendations are based upon those from the various Chicago/Illinois area Bar Associations (courtesy of https://www.voteforjudges.org/). Please feel free to reach out with any questions on these or any other judicial races.

Circuit Court (Vacancy of Cobbs): Vote for Linda Sackey

• Current Circuit Court judge and former judicial clerk to state Supreme Court Justice. Recommended as qualified by all but one major bar association.

Circuit Court (Vacancy of Coghlan): Vote for Michael Cabonargi

• Current Circuit Court judge. Recommended as qualified by all major reporting bar associations.

1st Subcircuit (Vacancy of Balanoff): Vote for Radiance Ward

• Recommended as qualified by all major reporting bar associations (opponent is not recommended by any).

1st Subcircuit (Vacancy of Walker): Vote for Ginger Odom

• Current Circuit Court judge. Recommended as qualified by all major reporting bar associations.

3rd Subcircuit (Vacancy of Sherlock): Vote for Rachel Marrello

• Recommended as qualified by all but one major reporting bar association.

8th Subcircuit (Vacancy of Gamrath): Vote for Elizabeth Christina Dibler

• All three candidates are strong, but Dibler is only one recommended as qualified by all major reporting bar associations.

8th Subcircuit (Vacancy of Mikva): Vote for Lester Finkle

• Recommended as qualified by all major reporting bar associations.

11th Subcircuit (Vacancy of McLean Meyerson): Vote for Jarrett Knox

• Recommended as qualified by all major reporting bar associations.

17th Subcircuit (Converted from AJ of Brooks): No recommendation

• Neither candidate is recommended as qualified by most major reporting bar associations.

17th Subcircuit (Converted from AJ of Carroll): Vote for Bianca Brown

• Recommended as qualified by all major reporting bar associations (neither opponent is recommended by any).

19th Subcircuit (Converted from AJ of Kane): Vote for Dave Condron

• Recommended as qualified by all major reporting bar associations.

20th Subcircuit (Converted from AJ of Miller): Vote for Belle Katubig

• Recommended as qualified by all major reporting bar associations.

1. Credit to the Girl I Guess folks for highlighting this one.