Tom Dart

Thomas J. Dart (born May 25, 1962)[1] is the Sheriff of Cook County, Illinois, and serves as the chief executive of the second largest such department in the United States after Los Angeles.

Tom Dart
Sheriff of Cook County
Assumed office
2006
Preceded byMichael F. Sheahan
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives
from the 28th district
In office
January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2003
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byRobert Rita
Member of the Illinois Senate
from the 14th district
In office
January 3, 1991 – January 3, 1993
Preceded byJeremiah E. Joyce
Succeeded byEmil Jones Jr.
(redistricting)
Personal details
Born (1962-05-25) May 25, 1962
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Patricia
Children5
EducationProvidence College (BA)
Loyola University Chicago (JD)

Career

Dart began his career as a state prosecutor in Cook County. Afterwards he was an Illinois State Senator, having been appointed in 1991 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator Jeremiah E. Joyce (D-Chicago). He was then elected and served state representative as a Democrat for Illinois' 28th House District from January 1993 until January 2003, before becoming chief of staff to Cook County Sheriff Michael F. Sheahan. In November 2002, Dart was the Democratic nominee for state treasurer of Illinois but lost to incumbent Republican Judy Baar Topinka.[2]

When Sheahan announced that he would retire as Cook County Sheriff in 2006, Dart announced his candidacy to succeed Sheahan. Dart won the Democratic primary election on March 21, 2006, defeating Sylvester Baker and Richard Remus by a wide margin, and won the general election in November 2006. On November 2, 2010, Dart faced Republican Frederick Collins in the race for the Cook County Sheriff's office and won handily with 69.37% of the vote. Dart declined to be a candidate in the Chicago mayoral election, 2011.[3] After defeating three Democratic opponents in the 2014 primary election, Dart was unopposed for reelection in the general election of November 2014.[4]

Foreclosures

In October 2008, Dart made national news when he announced that he was suspending all foreclosure evictions in Cook County.[5] The number of such evictions had increased dramatically since 2006 as a result of the national subprime mortgage crisis. Dart stated that many of the people being evicted were renters who had faithfully paid their rent but had not known that their landlord was in financial trouble. He explained that in many cases, mortgage companies had not fulfilled their obligation to identify tenants in the foreclosed properties, and said, "These mortgage companies only see pieces of paper, not people, and don't care [...] who gets hurt along the way ... We're not going to do their jobs for them anymore. We're just not going to evict innocent tenants. It stops today."[6]

The Illinois Bankers Association was critical of Dart, accusing him of "ignoring his legal responsibilities" and of engaging in "vigilantism".[6] Dart claims he is enforcing an Illinois state law which requires the banks to determine whether the persons resident at an address are actually the persons to whom the foreclosure notice should be served.[7] In 2009, Time named Dart one of its 100 Most Influential People of that year.[8]

Craigslist lawsuit
Main article: Dart v. Craigslist, Inc.

In March 2009, Dart filed a lawsuit in federal court against Craigslist, Inc. (09-CV-1385),[9] to close the "erotic services" section of Craigslist.[10] The suit claims that Craigslist is the "largest source of prostitution". The lawsuit was dismissed on October 23, 2009 on the grounds that Craigslist is protected by Section 230 immunity.[11]

Personal life

Dart holds a J.D. from Loyola University Chicago and a Bachelor's degree in History and General Social Studies from Providence College. He graduated from Mount Carmel High School, Chicago.[12] He and his wife Patricia live in Chicago's Mount Greenwood neighborhood; they have five children.[13]

Electoral history

The following is Dart's electoral history since 1998:

1998 Illinois House of Representatives 28th district Democratic primary[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Thomas J. Dart (incumbent) 14,491 100.00
Total votes 14,491 100
1998 Illinois House of Representatives 28th district election[15]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Thomas J. Dart (incumbent) 31,873 100.00
Total votes 31,873 100
2000 Illinois House of Representatives 28th district Democratic primary[16]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Thomas J. Dart (incumbent) 15,334 100.00
Total votes 15,334 100
2000 Illinois House of Representatives 28th district election[17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Thomas J. Dart (incumbent) 35,117 93.17
Republican David E. Lee 2,576 6.83
Total votes 37,693 100
2002 Illinois State Treasurer Democratic primary[18]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Thomas J. Dart 966,421 100
Total votes 966,421 100
2002 Illinois State Treasurer election[18]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Judy Baar Topinka 1,896,020 54.77
Democratic Thomas J. Dart 1,499,055 43.30
Libertarian Rhys Read 66,593 1.92
Total votes 3,461,668 100
2006 Cook County Sheriff Democratic primary[19][20]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Thomas J. Dart 331,318 61.91
Democratic Sylvester E. Baker, Jr. 133,944 25.03
Democratic Richard L. Remus 69,899 13.06
Total votes 535,161 100
2006 Cook County Sheriff election[21][22]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Thomas J. Dart 942,112 74.70
Republican Peter Garza 319,009 25.30
Total votes 1,261,121 100
2010 Cook County Sheriff Democratic primary[23][24]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Thomas J. Dart (incumbent) 397,844 76.37
Democratic Sylvester E. Baker Jr. 123,096 23.63
Total votes 520,940 100
2010 Cook County Sheriff election[25][26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Thomas J. Dart (incumbent) 1,041,696 77.26
Republican Frederick Collins 257,682 19.11
Green Marshall P. Lewis 48,930 3.63
Total votes 1,348,308 100
2014 Cook County Sheriff Democratic primary [27][28]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Thomas J. Dart (incumbent) 177,401
Democratic William "Bill" Evans 36,740
Democratic Sylvester E. Baker, Jr. 26,010
Democratic Tadeusz "Ted" Palka 15,661
Total votes 255,812 100
2014 Cook County Sheriff election[29][30]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Thomas J. Dart (incumbent) 1,055,783 100.00
Total votes 1,055,783 100
2018 Cook County Sheriff Democratic primary[31][32]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Thomas J. Dart (incumbent) 640,512 100.00
Total votes 640,512 100
2018 Cook County Sheriff election[33][34]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Thomas J. Dart (incumbent) 1,455,825 100.00
Total votes 1,455,825 100
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References
  1. U.S. Public Records Index Vol 1 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010.
  2. "Loss to Topinka - 2002 State Treasurer General Election Results - Illinois". Uselectionatlas.org. 2007-01-02. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  3. Chase, John; Mack, Kristen (October 27, 2010). "Sheriff Tom Dart won't run for Chicago mayor". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  4. "General Primary Election: Cook County : March 18, 2014" (PDF). Cookcountyclerk.com. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
  5. "Stroger, Jackson call for statewide foreclosure moratorium". Chicago Tribune. October 26, 2008. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
  6. "Illinois sheriff: No foreclosure evictions on my watch", CNN, October 8, 2008
  7. "Sheriff Dart explains why he refuses to evict tenants" Archived 2010-03-17 at the Wayback Machine, Chicago Sun-Times, October 9, 2008.
  8. Judge Abner Mikva (2009-04-30). "Thomas Dart - The 2009 TIME 100". TIME. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  9. Dart v. Craigslist, 665 F. Supp. 2d 961 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 20, 2009)
  10. "Sheriff sues Craigslist as 'largest source' of prostitution". Chicago Breaking News. 2009-03-05. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  11. "Court Teaches Cook County Sheriff About Section 230, Dismisses Case Against Craigslist". Techdirt. 2009-10-21. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  12. "Mount Carmel Students and Faculty Break the Bank on St. Baldrick's Day". Mount Carmel High School. 2003-09-28. Archived from the original on 2009-05-19. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  13. "Sheriff's Biography". Cookcountysheriff.org. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  14. "Election Results 1998 GENERAL PRIMARY". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  15. "Election Results 1998 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  16. "lection Results 2000 GENERAL PRIMARY". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  17. "Election Results 2000 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  18. "Election Results". www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  19. "ELECTIONS - SUBURBAN COOK COUNTY March 2006 Gubernatorial Primary Election DEM-COOK COUNTY SHERIFF". Cook County Clerk's Office. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  20. "2006 Primary - DEM - 3/21/06". Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  21. "ELECTIONS - SUBURBAN COOK COUNTY November 2006 Gubernatorial General Election County Sheriff". Cook County Clerk's Office. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  22. "2006 General Election - 11/7/06". Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  23. "Suburban Cook County Election Results February 02, 2010 Gubernatorial Primary Election Sheriff Township & Precinct Results". Cook County Clerk's Office. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  24. "2010 Primary - DEM - 2/2/10". Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  25. "Suburban Cook County Election Results November 02, 2010 Gubernatorial General Election Sheriff, Cook County Township & Precinct Results". Cook County Clerk's Office. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  26. "2010 General Election - 11/2/2010". Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  27. "Suburban Cook County Election Results March 18, 2014 Gubernatorial Primary Election Sheriff, Cook County Township & Precinct Results". Cook County Clerk's Office. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  28. "2014 Primary - DEM - 3/18/14". Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  29. "Suburban Cook County Election Results November 04, 2014 Gubernatorial General Election Sheriff, Cook County Township & Precinct Results". Cook County Clerk's Office. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  30. "2014 General Election - 11/4/14". Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  31. "Suburban Cook County Election Results March 20, 2018 Gubernatorial Primary Election Election Sheriff, Cook County Township & Precinct Results". Cook County Clerk's Office. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  32. "2014 General Election - 11/4/14". Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  33. "Suburban Cook County Election Results November 06, 2018 Gubernatorial General Election Sheriff, Cook County Township & Precinct Results". Cook County Clerk's Office. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  34. "2018 General Election - 11/6/18". Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
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