# 2008 Cook County, Illinois, elections

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vte :
The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 4, 2008.
Primaries were held February 5, 2008.
Elections were held for Clerk of the Circuit Court, Recorder of Deeds, State's Attorney, Board of Review districts 2 and 3, three seats on the Water Reclamation District Board, and judgeships on the Circuit Court of Cook County.

## 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 47.95%, with 1,274,569 ballots cast. Among these, 1,091,008 Democratic, 200,750 Republican, 112 Green, 4 Moderate, and 2,125 nonpartisan primary ballots were cast. The city of Chicago saw 52.70% turnout and suburban Cook County saw 43.3% turnout.
The general election saw 73.71% turnout, with 2,162,240 ballots cast. Chicago saw 73.87% turnout and suburban Cook County saw 73.54% turnout.

## Clerk of the Circuit Court

In the 2008 Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County election, incumbent second-term Clerk Dorothy A. Brown, a Democrat, was reelected.

### Primaries
#### Democratic

Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County Democratic primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Dorothy A. Brown (incumbent) | 833,795 | 100 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 833,795 | 100 |

#### Republican

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

#### Green

No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Green primary. The Green Party ultimately nominated Paloma Andrade.

### General election

Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | Dorothy A. Brown (incumbent) | 1,315,731 | 68.29 | −5.77 |
| | Republican | Diane Shapiro | 517,115 | 26.84 | +0.90 |
| | Green | Paloma Andrade | 93,906 | 4.87 | N/A |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,926,752 | 100 | |

## Recorder of Deeds

In the 2008 Cook County Recorder of Deeds election, incumbent Recorder of Deeds Eugene Moore, a Democrat, was reelected. Moore had first been appointed in 1999 (after Jesse White resigned to become Illinois Secretary of State), and had been elected to two full-terms.

### Primaries
#### Democratic

Cook County Recorder of Deeds Democratic primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Eugene "Gene" Moore (incumbent) | 521,163 | 61.12 |
| | Democratic | Ed H. Smith | 331,511 | 38.88 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 852,674 | 100 |

##### Republican

No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary. The Republican Party ultimately nominated Gregory Goldstein.

##### Green

No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Green primary. The Green Party ultimately nominated Terrence A. Gilhooly

### General election

Cook County Recorder of Deeds election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Eugene "Gene" Moore (incumbent) | 1,324,426 | 70.49 |
| | Republican | Gregory Goldstein | 451,452 | 24.03 |
| | Green | Terrence A. Gilhooly | 102,968 | 5.48 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,878,846 | 100 |

## State's Attorney

In the 2008 Cook County State's Attorney election, incumbent third-term State's Attorney Richard A. Devine, a Democrat, did not seek reelection. Democrat Anita Alvarez was elected to succeed him.
Alvarez became the first Hispanic woman elected to this position, after also having been the first Latina to win the Democratic nomination for the office.

### Primaries
#### Democratic

Cook County State’s Attorney Democratic primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Anita Alvarez | 244,538 | 25.73 |
| | Democratic | Tom Allen | 234,976 | 24.72 |
| | Democratic | Larry Suffredin | 210,381 | 22.14 |
| | Democratic | Howard B. Brookins, Jr. | 172,746 | 18.18 |
| | Democratic | Robert J. Milan | 55,350 | 5.82 |
| | Democratic | Tommy H. Brewer | 32,430 | 3.41 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 950,421 | 100 |

#### Republican

Cook County State’s Attorney Republican primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Tony Peraica | 137,767 | 100 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 137,767 | 100 |

#### Green

No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Green primary. The Green Party ultimately nominated Thomas O'Brien.

### General election

Cook County State’s Attorney election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | Anita Alvarez | 1,378,452 | 69.90 | −9.63 |
| | Republican | Tony Peraica | 494,611 | 25.08 | +4.51 |
| | Green | Thomas O'Brien | 99,101 | 5.03 | N/A |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,972,164 | 100 | |

## Cook County Board of Review

In the 2008 Cook County Board of Review election, two seats, both Democratic-held, were up for election. Both 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.

### 2nd district

Incumbent third-term member Joseph Berrios, a Democrat last reelected in 2006, was reelected. Berrios had served since the Board of Review was constituted in 1998, and had served on its predecessor organization, the Cook County Board of Appeals, for another ten years. This election was to a four-year term.

#### Primaries
##### Democratic

Cook County Board of Review 2nd district Democratic primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Joseph Berrios (incumbent) | 153,053 | 58.65 |
| | Democratic | Jay Paul Deratany | 107,889 | 41.35 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 260,942 | 100 |

##### Republican

No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary. The Republican Party ultimately nominated Lauren Elizabeth McCracken-Quirk.

##### Green

No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Green primary. The Green Party ultimately nominated Howard Kaplan.

#### General election

Cook County Board of Review 2nd district election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Joseph Berrios (incumbent) | 370,380 | 69.94 |
| | Republican | Lauren Elizabeth McCracken-Quirk | 108,138 | 20.42 |
| | Green | Howard Kaplan | 51,088 | 9.65 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 529,606 | 100 |

### 3rd district

Incumbent first-term member Larry Rogers, Jr., a Democrat elected in 2004, was reelected. This election was to a four-year term.

#### Primaries
##### Democratic

Cook County Board of Review 3rd district Democratic primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Larry R. Rogers, Jr. (incumbent) | 323,842 | 100 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 323,842 | 100 |

##### Republican

No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary. The Republican Party ultimately nominated Lionel Garcia.

##### Green

No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Green primary. The Green Party ultimately nominated Antonne "Tony" Cox.

#### General election

Cook County Board of Review 3rd district election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Larry R. Rogers, Jr. (incumbent) | 573,194 | 88.69 |
| | Republican | Lionel Garcia | 49,680 | 7.69 |
| | Green | Antonne "Tony" Cox | 23,455 | 3.63 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 646,329 | 100 |

## Water Reclamation District Board

In the 2008 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.
Three incumbent Democrats were reelected to their seats.

### Democratic primary

All three incumbents were renominated.
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Democratic primary :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Democratic | Frank Avila (incumbent) | 367,867 | 17.01 |
| Democratic | Kathleen Therese Meany (incumbent) | 336,047 | 15.54 |
| Democratic | Cynthia M. Santos (incumbent) | 334,427 | 15.47 |
| Democratic | Mariyana T. Spyropoulos | 307,067 | 14.20 |
| Democratic | Daine Jones | 284,623 | 13.16 |
| Democratic | Dean T. Maragos | 212,967 | 9.85 |
| Democratic | Derrick David Stinson | 188,506 | 8.72 |
| Democratic | Matthew Podgorski | 130,748 | 6.05 |

### Republican primary

No candidates ran in the Republican primary.

### Green primary

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Green primary :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Green | Nadine Bopp | 572 | 34.48 |
| Green | John "Jack" Alley | 567 | 34.18 |
| Green | Rita Bogolub | 520 | 31.34 |

#### General election

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Democratic | Frank Avila (incumbent) | 1,091,542 | 25.49 |
| Democratic | Cynthia M. Santos (incumbent) | 937,529 | 21.89 |
| Democratic | Kathleen Therese Meany (incumbent) | 896,119 | 20.93 |
| Republican | David Clearwater | 343,516 | 8.02 |
| Republican | Paul Chialdikas | 317,081 | 7.40 |
| Republican | Daniel Flores | 315,977 | 7.38 |
| Green | Nadine Bopp | 166,289 | 3.88 |
| Green | John "Jack" Alley | 109,424 | 2.56 |
| Green | Rita Bogolub | 104,606 | 2.44 |

## Judicial elections

Partisan elections were held for judgeships on the Circuit Court of Cook County due to vacancies. Other judgeships had retention elections.
Partistan elections were also held for subcircuit courts judgeships due to vacancies. Other judgeships had retention elections.

## Other elections

Coinciding with the primaries, elections were held to elect both the Democratic and Republican committeemen for the wards of Chicago.