# Cook County Sheriff

The Cook County Sheriff is the sheriff of Cook County, Illinois, heading the Cook County Sheriff's Office.

## Office description

Terms are currently four-years in length.

## Officeholders

| Sherriff | Term in office | Party | Notes |
| John H. Kinzie | 1831–1832 | | Appointed by governor John Reynolds |
| Stephen R. Forbes | 1832–1834 | | Cook County's first elected sheriff |
| Silas W. Sherman | 1834–1838 | Democratic | |
| Isaac R. Gavin | 1838–1840 | Independent Democrat | |
| Ashbel Steele | 1840–1842 | | |
| Samuel J. Lowe | 1842–1846 | | |
| Isaac Cook | 1846–1850 | | |
| William L. Church | 1850–1852 | | |
| Cyrus Bradley | 1852–1854 | | |
| James Andrew | 1854–1855 | | |
| James Beach | 1855–1856 (acting) | | |
| John L. Wilson | 1856–1858 | | |
| John Gray | 1859–1860 | | |
| Anton C. Hesing | 1860–1862 | Republican | |
| David Hammond | 1862–1864 | | |
| John A. Nelson | 1864–1866 | | |
| John Lourie Beveridge | 1866–1868 | Republican | |
| Gustav Fischer | 1868–1870 | | Absconded in 1869 |
| Benjamin L. Cleaves | 1870 | | Simultaneously ex officio Cook County Coroner |
| Timothy Bradley | 1870–1872 | | |
| Charles Kern | 1872–1878 | Democratic | |
| John Hoffman | 1878–1880 | Republican | |
| Orrin L. Mann | 1880–1882 | Republican | Elected in 1880 |
| Seth Hanchett | 1882–1886 | Republican | |
| Canute R. Matson | 1886–1890 | Republican | |
| James H. Gilbert | 1890–1894 | | |
| James Pease | 1894–1898 | Republican | |
| Ernest Magerstadt | 1899–1902 | Republican | |
| Thomas E. Barrett | 1902–1906 | Democratic | |
| Christopher Strassheim | 1906–1910 | Republican | |
| Michael Zimmer | 1910–1914 | Democratic | |
| John E. Traeger | 1914–1918 | Democratic | |
| Charles W. Peters | 1918–1922 | Republican | |
| Peter M. Hoffman | December 1922–December 26, 1926 | Republican | |
| Charles E. Graydon | December 29, 1926–December 1928 | | |
| John E. Traeger | December 3, 1928–December 1930 | Democratic | Had previously served as sheriff |
| William D. Meyering | 1930–1934 | Democratic | |
| John Toman | 1934–1938 | | |
| Thomas J. O'Brien | 1938–1942 | Democratic | |
| A. L. Brodie | 1942–1943 | | |
| William J. Tuohy | | | |
| Elmer Michael Walsh | 1946-1950 | Republican | Elected in 1946 |
| John E. Babb | 1950–1954 | Republican | |
| Joseph D. Lohman | 1954–1958 | Democrat | |
| Frank G. Sain | 1958-1962 | Democrat | |
| Richard B. Ogilvie | 1962–1966 | Republican | |
| Joseph I. Woods | 1966–1970 | Republican | |
| Richard Elrod | 1970–1986 | Democratic | |
| James E. O'Grady | 1986–1990 | Republican | Elected in 1986; lost reelection in 1990 |
| Michael F. Sheahan | 1990–2006 | Democratic | Elected in 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002 |
| Tom Dart | 2006–present | Democratic | Elected in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 |

## Election results

Cook County Sheriff general elections :
| Year | Winning candidate | Party | Vote (pct) | Opponent | Party | Vote (pct) | Opponent | Party | Vote (pct) | Opponent | Party | Vote (pct) | Opponent | Party | Vote (pct) | Opponent | Party | Vote (pct) |
| 1832 ... 1898 | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] |
| 1902 | Thomas E. Barrett | Democratic | 141,822 ( %) | Daniel D. Healy | Republican | 135,036 ( %) | James P. Larsen | Social Democratic | 13,134 ( %) | Henry Sale | Socialist Labor | 5,973 ( %) | Joseph P. Tracy | Prohibition | 4,480 (1.32%) | Thomas Donegan | Single Tax | 908 ( %) |
| 1906 | Christopher Strassheim | Republican | 131,608 ( %) | Harry J. Gibbons | Democratic | 93,836 ( %) | James J. Gray | Independent League | 49,296 ( %) | 26,055 | Socialist | 26,055 ( %) | S. A. Wilson | Prohibition | 3,735 (%) | John Fitzpatrick | Progressive Alliance | 1,400 ( %) |
| 1910 | Michael Zimmer | Democratic | 165,445 ( %) | Frank A. Volger | Republican | 145,598 | William Van Bodegraven | Socialist | 27,588 ( %) | O. F. Sarber | Prohibition | 5,038 (%) | | | | | | |
| 1914 | John E. Traeger | Democratic | 166,335 ( %) | George K. Schmidt | Republican | 112,502 | Frederick S. Oliver | Progressive | 50,117 ( %) | Bernard McMahon | Socialist | 23,319 ( %) | George W. Hoover | Prohibition | 1,229 (%) | | | |
| 1918 | Charles W. Peters | Republican | 177,912 ( %) | Anton Cermak | Democratic | 174,829 (%) | Adolf Dreifuss | Socialist | 19,572 ( %) | | | | | | | | | |
| 1922 ... 1982 | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] | [data missing] |
| 1986 | James E. O'Grady | Democratic | 706,659 (51.12%) | Richard J. Elrod | Democratic | 673,233 (48.79%) | | | | | | |
| 1990 | Michael F. Sheahan | Democratic | 719,489 (55.41%) | James E. O'Grady | Republican | 369,631 (28.47%) | Tommy Brewer | Harold Washington Party | 191,101 (14.72%) | William M. Piechuch, Sr. | Illinois Solidarity | 18,318 (1.41%) |
| 1994 | Michael F. Sheahan | Democratic | | John D. Tourtelot | Republican | | William A. Brown | Harold Washington Party | | William J. Benson | Populist | |
| 1998 | Michael F. Sheahan | Democratic | 903,053 (71.11%) | LeRoy Martin | Republican | 366,867 (28.89%) | | | | | | |
| 2002 | Michael F. Sheahan | Democratic | 984,348 (76.88%) | Ronald Swick | Republican | 296,062 (23.12%) | | | | | | |
| 2006 | Tom Dart | Democratic | 942,113 (74.70%) | Peter Garza | Republican | 319,011 (25.30%) | | | | | | |
| 2010 | Tom Dart | Democratic | 1,041,696 (77.26%) | Frederick Collins | Republican | 257,682 (19.11%) | Marshall P. Lewis | Green | 48,930 (3.63%) | | | |
| 2014 | Tom Dart | Democratic | 1,055,783 (100%) | | | | | | | | | |
| 2018 | Tom Dart | Democratic | 1,455,825 (100%) | | | | | | | | | |
| 2022 | Tom Dart | Democratic | 1,041,525 (74.21%) | Lupe Aguirre | Republican | 321,252 (22.89%) | Brad Sandefur | Libertarian | 40,752 (2.90%) | | | |