2012 Cook County, Illinois elections

The Cook County, Illinois general election was held on November 6, 2012.[1]

2012 Cook County, Illinois elections

November 6, 2012
Turnout	70.59%

Primaries were held March 20, 2012.[2]

Elections were held for Clerk of the Circuit Court, Cook County Recorder of Deeds, State's Attorney, all three seats on the Board of Review Commissioner, three seats on the Water Reclamation District Board, and judgeships in the Circuit Court of Cook County and its subcircuits.

Election information

2012 was a presidential election year in the United States. The primaries and general elections for Cook County races coincided with those for federal races (President and House) and those for state elections.

Voter turnout

Voter turnout in Cook County during the primaries was 24.03%, with 644,701 ballots cast. Among these, 440,873 Democratic, 200,750 Republican, 112 Green, and 2,966 nonpartisan primary ballots were cast.[3][4] The city of Chicago saw 24.46% turnout, its lowest turnout for a presidential primary on record (with the records dating back to 1942).[3][4][5][6] Suburban Cook County saw 23.63% turnout.[3][4]

The general election saw 70.59% turnout, with 2,030,563 ballots cast. Chicago saw 73.01% turnout and suburban Cook County saw 70.70% turnout.[7][8]

Clerk of the Circuit Court

2012 Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County election

November 6, 2012
Turnout	63.74%[7][8]
Candidate Dorothy A. Brown Diane Shapiro Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,291,499 541,973 Percentage 70.44% 29.56%
Clerk before election Dorothy A. Brown Democratic Elected Clerk Dorothy A. Brown Democratic

In the 2012 Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County election, incumbent third-term Clerk Dorothy A. Brown, a Democrat, was reelected.

Primaries

Democratic

Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County Democratic primary[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dorothy A. Brown (incumbent)	269,781	67.44
	Democratic	Ricardo Muñoz	130,221	32.56
Total votes			400,002	100

Republican

No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.[2] The Republican Party ultimately nominated Diane S. Shapiro.

General election

Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County election[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dorothy A. Brown (incumbent)	1,291,499	70.44
	Republican	Diane S. Shapiro	541,973	29.56
Total votes			1,833,472	100

Recorder of Deeds

2012 Cook County Recorder of Deeds election

November 6, 2012
Turnout	61.88%[7][8]
Candidate Karen Yarbrough Sherri Griffith Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,313,967 466,038 Percentage 73.82% 26.18%
Recorder of Deeds before election Eugene Moore Democratic Elected Recorder of Deeds Karen Yarbrough Democratic

In the 2012 Cook County Recorder of Deeds election election, incumbent Recorder of Deeds Eugene Moore, a Democrat, did not seek reelection. Moore had served as Recorder of Deeds since 1999.[9] Karen Yarbrough was elected to succeed him.

Primaries

Democratic

Cook County Recorder of Deeds Democratic primary[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Karen A. Yarbrough	343,603	100.00
Total votes			343,603	100

Republican

No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.[2] The Republican Party ultimately nominated Sherri Griffith.

General election

Cook County Recorder of Deeds election[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Karen A. Yarbrough	1,313,967	73.82
	Republican	Sherri Griffith	466,038	26.18
Total votes			1,780,005	100

State's Attorney

2012 Cook County State's Attorney election

November 6, 2012
Turnout	64.39%[7][8]
Candidate Anita Alvarez Lori S. Yokoyama Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,427,145 21,810 Percentage 77.05% 22.77%
State's Attorney before election Anita Alvarez Democratic Elected State's Attorney Anita Alvarez Democratic

In the 2012 Cook County State's Attorney election, incumbent first-term State's Attorney Anita Alvarez, a Democrat, was reelected.

Only Democrats had held this office ever since Richard A. Devine unseated Republican Jack O'Malley in 1996.[10]

Primaries

Democratic

Cook County State’s Attorney Democratic primary[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Anita Alvarez (incumbent)	343,555	100.00
Total votes			343,555	100

Republican

No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.[2] The Republican Party ultimately nominated Lori S. Yokoyama.

General election

Cook County State’s Attorney election[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Anita Alvarez (incumbent)	1,427,145	77.05
	Republican	Lori S. Yokoyama	421,810	22.77
	Write-in	Others	3,320	0.18
Total votes			1,852,275	100

Cook County Board of Review

2012 Cook County Board of Review election

November 6, 2012
2 of 3 seats on the Cook County Board of Review 2 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Party Democratic Republican Seats before 2 1 Seats after 2 1 Seat change Seats up 2 1 Races won 2 1

In the 2012 Cook County Board of Review election, all three seats, two Democratic-held and one Republican-held, were up for election. All incumbents won reelection.

The Cook County Board of Review has its three seats rotate the length of terms. In a staggered fashion (in which no two seats have coinciding two-year terms), the seats rotate between two consecutive four-year terms and a two-year term.[11] This was the first year since 2002 that all three seats were coincidingly up for election.

As these were the first elections held following the 2010 United States Census, the seats faced redistricting before this election.

1st district

Incumbent first-term member Dan Patlak, a Republican first elected in 2010, was reelected. This election was to a four-year term.[11]

Primaries

Democratic

Cook County Board of Review 1st district Democratic primary[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Casey Thomas Griffin	71,168	100.00
Total votes			71,168	100

Republican

Cook County Board of Review 1st district Republican primary[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Patlak (incumbent)	59,778	53.68
	Republican	Sean M. Morrison	51,577	46.32
Total votes			111,355	100

General election

Cook County Board of Review 1st district election[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Patlak (incumbent)	316,190	51.52
	Democratic	Casey Thomas Griffin	297,517	48.48
Total votes			613,707	100

2nd district

Incumbent member Michael Cabonargi, a Democrat appointed in 2011 after Joseph Berrios resigned to assume office as Cook County Assessor,[12] was reelected to a full term, running unopposed in both the Democratic primary and general election. This election was to a four-year term.

Primaries

Democratic

Cook County Board of Review 2nd district Democratic primary[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Michael Cabonargi (incumbent)	88,990	100.00
Total votes			88,990	100

Republican

No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.[2]

General election

Cook County Board of Review 2nd district election[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Michael Cabonargi (incumbent)	404,100	100.00
Total votes			404,100	100

3rd district

Incumbent second-term member Larry Rogers, a Democrat, was reelected, running unopposed in both the Democratic primary and general election. Rogers had last been reelected in 2008. This election was to a two-year term.

Primaries

Democratic

Cook County Board of Review 3rd district Democratic primary[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Larry Rogers, Jr. (incumbent)	170,821	100.00
Total votes			170,821	100

Republican

No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.[2]

General election

Cook County Board of Review 3rd district election[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Larry Rogers, Jr. (incumbent)	584,624	100.00
Total votes			584,624	100

Water Reclamation District Board

2012 Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago election

November 6, 2012
3 of 9 seats on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago 5 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Democratic Republican Green Seats before 9 0 0 Seats after 9 0 0 Seat change Seats up 3 0 0 Races won 3 0 0

In the 2012 Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago election, three of the nine seats on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago board were up for election in an at-large election.

Incumbent Democrats Debra Shore and Patricia Horton sought reelection.[13][14] Horton failed to garner renomination, thus losing reelection.

Shore won reelection. Joining Shore in winning the general election were Democrats Kari K. Steele[15] and Patrick Daley Thompson.

Primaries

Democratic

Water Reclamation District Board election Democratic primary[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Debra Shore (incumbent)	194,936	21.05
	Democratic	Kari K. Steele	182,369	19.70
	Democratic	Patrick Daley Thompson	162,329	17.53
	Democratic	Patricia Young	129,670	14.01
	Democratic	Patricia Horton	128,432	13.87
	Democratic	Stella B. Black	125,147	13.52
	Write-in	Others	2,968	0.32
Total votes			925,851	100

Republican

Water Reclamation District Board election Republican primary[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Harold "Noonie" Ward	124,643	100.00
Total votes			124,643	100

General election

Water Reclamation District Board election[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Debra Shore (incumbent)	1,071,670	26.34
	Democratic	Kari K. Steele	919,841	22.61
	Democratic	Patrick Daley Thompson	893,178	21.96
	Republican	Harold "Noonie" Ward	334,207	8.22
	Republican	Carl Segvich	341,603	8.40
	Green	Dave Ehrlich	200,953	4.94
	Green	Karen Roothaan	189,505	4.66
	Green	Nasrin R. Khalili	117,089	2.88
Total votes			4,068,046	100

Judicial elections

12 judgeships on the Circuit Court of Cook County were up for partisan elections due to vacancies.[1] 56 Circuit Court judgeships were up for retention elections.[16]

23 subcircuit court judgeships were also up for partisan elections due to vacancies.[1] Multiple subcircuit court judgeships were also up for retention elections.[17]

See also

• 2012 Illinois elections

Notes

References

1. "Cook County and the City of Chicago Combined Summary Report General Election November 6, 2012" (PDF). Retrieved 16 March 2020.
2. "Combined Summary Cook County Primary Election March 20, 2012" (PDF). Cook County Clerk's Office. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
3. "Cook County Primary Election March 20, 2012 Summary Report" (PDF). Cook County Clerk. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
4. "TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE RESULTS AND PROCLAMATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE CANVASS OF THE ELECTION RETURNS FOR THE MARCH 20, 2012 GENERAL PRIMARY ELECTION HELD IN EACH OF THE PRECINCTS IN ALL OF THE WARDS IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO" (PDF). chicagoelections.com. Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
5. "Despite coronavirus anxiety and problems at the polls, Cook County and Chicago avoid record-low turnout in primary election". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
6. Pearson, Rick (6 April 2020). "Despite coronavirus fears, Chicago's primary turnout was nowhere near a record low". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
7. "Cook County General Election November 6, 2012 Summary Report" (PDF). Cook County Clerk. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
8. "TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE RESULTS AND PROCLAMATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE CANVASS OF THE ELECTION RETURNS FOR THE NOVEMBER 6, 2012 GENERAL ELECTION HELD IN EACH OF THE PRECINCTS IN ALL OF THE WARDS IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO" (PDF). chicagoelections.com. Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
9. "Eugene Moore, former Cook Co. recorder of deeds, dead at 73". ABC7 Chicago. WLS-TV. 17 June 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
10. Hinton, Rachel (19 March 2020). "Republicans: O'Brien has 'really decent chance' to oust Foxx in November". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
11. "35 ILCS 200/5-5". ilga.gov. Government of Illinois. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
12. Mihalopoulos, Dan (3 September 2011). "With Online Filing System, Property Tax Appeals Get Easier". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
13. "Democratic candidate for MWRD commissioner: Debra Shore". Chicago Sun-Times. 26 February 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
14. Dardick, Hal (19 March 2012). "Daley nephew has big-name backing in sewer board bid". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
15. Blumberg, ck; Palmore, Rebecca (9 October 2018). "Kari K. Steele: Candidate for Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, 6-Year Term". WTTW News. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
16. "Downloadable Vote Totals". Illinois Secretary of State. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017.
17. "Illinois judicial elections, 2012". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 5 April 2020.