Jacob Meister

Jacob Meister (born April 21 1965) is an American politician and lawyer who has run for countywide and statewide offices in Illinois. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been a candidate for the United States Senate and Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. 
He currently works as a lawyer at his own law firm, Jacob Meister & Associates.
==Early life and career==
He began his career as a public servant by interning for the City of Milwaukee Mayor’s and Milwaukee County Executive’s Offices before working for Wisconsin Congressman Jim Moody.
He graduated with a bachelor's of arts degree in International Studies and Political Science from The American University in Washington D.C., cum laude in 1986. In 1990, he graduated Juris Doctor from the University of Wisconsin Law School.http://www.chicagoappleseed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Meister-bio.pdf
Meister worked as a lawyer at numerous law firms from 1990-2002, in April of 2002, he started his own law firm Law Offices of Jacob J. Meister & Associates.http://www.chicagocouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/Jacob-Meister-questionnaire.pdf
==2010 United States Senate elections in Illinois==
Jacob decided to run in the 2010 United States Senate election in Illinois. He wanted to run to talk about progressive issues and job-creation, but his campaign never gained any support over single-digits. Meister dropped out of the race and endorsed Alexi Giannoulias. HIs name would still be on the primary ballot, but Meister told his supporters to vote for Giannoulias. 
There was some controversy surrounding Jacob's withdrawal from the United States Senate campaign. One of Meister's primary opponents Cheryle Jackson, accused Meister of joining the race to benefit Alexi Giannoulias. “This was not a surprise,” Jackson said of Meister’s move. “This is something we knew all along, that he was in the race to help the treasurer. That being said, he was only pulling 1 percent at best. So I think it was inconsequential.”
== 2016 Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County election ==
Meister saw an opening to run for Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County because the current incumbent Dorthy Brown was under investigation for pay to play tactics. He was in a primary with Dorthy Brown and Chicago Alderman Michelle A. Harris. Meister's campaign was largely funded by large personal contributions of well over $300,000, along with his politician friends and family members.
	
Meister would eventually finish last in primary with only 21.9% of the vote, Alderman Harris finished in second with 30.4%, and the incumbent Dorthy Brown won the primary with 47.2% of the total vote.https://www.cookcountyclerkil.gov/sites/default/files/CombinedSummaryReport31516.pdf Had Meister stayed out of the primary, Alderman Harris would have likely won, but Meister raised close to $400,000 to finish in a distant third.
==2020 Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County election==
Four years later Meister was ready to run again for Clerk of the Circuit Court in Cook County. Again he largely self-funded his race, along with help from family members.https://web.archive.org/web/20200201161106/http://www.chicagomag.com/city-life/January-2020/Circuit-Court-Clerk-Race-Meet-the-Candidates/ Dorthy Brown decided not to run, so it was an open primary.
The candidates for the race included former Cook County Board of Commissioner Richard Boykin, Illinois State Senator Iris Martinez, Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Michael Cabonargi, and Jacob Meister. 
Once again, Meister generated controversy with his unsubstantiated comments on patronage, saying “I’m personally disgusted,” Meister said. “During that process, I had many committeemen who came over to me and said, ‘I’ll support you, but I need two jobs and four promotions.’ ” As Meister continued, Cabonargi chimed in: “Who are these people? What are their names? Who are they?” Meister didn’t say. He also wouldn’t name names when a WBEZ reporter asked him after Friday’s forum.
Meister had little support from local elected leaders due to the controversy he generated with previous campaigns. Even the few elected officials who personally supported him, including Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, would not come out and give a formal endorsement.
The race was surprisingly competitive and Iris Martinez won the primary with 33.67% of the vote. 
Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County Democratic primary
Party 	Party 	Candidate 	Votes 	%
 	Democratic 	Iris Y. Martinez 	269,578	33.67
 	Democratic 	Michael M. Cabonargi	216,180	27.00
 	Democratic 	Richard R. Boykin 	199,526	24.92
 	Democratic 	Jacob Meister 	113,855	14.22
 	Write-in 	Others 	1,511 	0.19
Total votes	Total votes	Total votes 	800,650	100
Between his two runs for Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Jacob and his family put over $500,000 of their own money into his campaign. All for him to finish in last place twice.
Category:1965 births
Category:American University alumni
Category:American people
Category:Politicians
Category:Lawyers