1988 Cook County, Illinois, elections

← 1986 November 8, 1988 1990 →
Turnout	72.56%

TheCook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 8, 1988.^[1]

Primaries were held March 15, 1988.^[2]

Elections were held forClerk of the Circuit Court,Recorder of Deeds,State's Attorney, one seat on theCook County Board of Appeals, three seats on theWater Reclamation District Board, and judgeships on theCircuit Court of Cook County.

1988 was apresidential election year in the United States. The primaries and general elections for Cook County races coincided with those for federal races (President andHouse) and those forstate elections.

AfterHarold Washington's1987 re-election as Chicago mayor and the end of theCouncil Wars gridlock on theChicago City Council, Washington reconciled with the Cook County Regular Democratic Organization. Before his death in November 1987, heendorsed the regular organization'sslate of candidates for Cook County office in 1988 (Richard M. Daley for re-election asstate's attorney;Aurelia Pucinski forclerk of courts; andCarol Moseley-Braun forrecorder of deeds.^[3]

Turnout in the primaries was 45.63%, with 1,236,750 ballots cast.^[2][4]

The general election saw turnout of 72.56%, with 2,095,985 ballots cast.^[5] Chicago saw 1,14,080 ballots cast, and suburban Cook County saw 981,905 ballots cast.^[1]

Ballots had astraight-ticket voting option in 1988.^[1]

1988 Clerk of theCircuit Court of Cook County election

← 1984 November 8, 1988 1992 →
Turnout	68.25%[1][5]
Candidate Aurelia Pucinski Edward R. Vrdolyak Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,170,558 800,783 Percentage 59.38% 40.62%
Clerk before election Morgan M. Finley Democratic Elected Clerk Aurelia Pucinski Democratic

In the1988 Clerk of theCircuit Court of Cook County election, incumbent clerkMorgan M. Finley, a Democrat, did not seek reelection. DemocratAurelia Pucinski was elected to succeed him.

Candidates

The following candidates ran for the Democratic Party nomination for Clerk of the Circuit Court:

Candidate		Experience	Ref
	Jane Byrne	Formermayor of Chicago (1979–1983)
	Thomas S. Fuller	Commissioner of theMetropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago since 1978	[6]
	Janice Hart	1984 Democratic nominee forIllinois Secretary of State, supporter of theLaRouche movement	[7]
	Aurelia Pucinski	Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago since 1984

Results

Candidate

The following candidate ran for the Republican Party nomination for Clerk of the Circuit Court:

Candidate		Experience	Ref
	Edward Vrdolyak	FormerChicago alderman (1971–1987), former president of the Chicago City Council (1977–1983), formerChairman of the Cook County Democratic Party (1982–1987),1987Illinois Solidarity Party nominee for mayor of Chicago

Results

No candidates ran in the Illinois Solidarity Party primary.^[2]

1988 Cook County Recorder of Deeds election

← 1984 November 8, 1988 1992 →
Turnout	65.06%[1][5]
Candidate Carol Moseley Braun Bernard L. Stone Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,020,805 795,540 Percentage 54.32% 42.33%
Recorder of Deeds before election Harry Yourell Democratic Elected Recorder of Deeds Carol Moseley Braun Democratic

In the1988 Cook County Recorder of Deeds election, incumbent first-term recorder of deedsHarry Yourell, a Democrat, did not seek reelection, instead running to be a commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. DemocratCarol Moseley Braun was elected to succeed him.

Mosely Braun's election made her the firstAfrican-American to hold the office of Cook County recorder of deeds.^[8]

Candidates

The following candidate ran for the Democratic Party nomination for Cook County Recorder of Deeds Court:

Candidate		Experience	Ref
	Sheila A. Jones	Perennial candidate
	Carol Moseley Braun	Member of theIllinois House of Representatives since 1979

Results

Candidates

The following candidate ran for the Democratic Party nomination for Cook County Recorder of Deeds Court:

Results

No candidates ran in the Illinois Solidarity Party primary.^[2] The party ultimately nominated Edward M. Wojkowski.^[1]

1988Cook County State's Attorney election

← 1984 November 8, 1988 1990 (special) →
Turnout	67.68%[1][5]
Candidate Richard M. Daley Terrance W. Gainer Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,303,906 650,942 Percentage 66.70% 33.30%
State's Attorney before election Richard M. Daley Democratic Elected State's Attorney Richard M. Daley Democratic

In the1988Cook County State's Attorney election, incumbent second-term state's attorneyRichard M. Daley, a Democrat, was reelected.

No candidates ran in the Illinois Solidarity Party primary.^[2]

1988 Cook County Board of Appeals special election

← 1986 November 8, 1988 1990 →
1 of 2 seats on theCook County Board of Appeals
Turnout	65.27%[1][5]
First party Second party   Party Democratic Republican Seats before 2 0 Seats after 2 0 Seat change Seats up 1 0 Races won 1 0

1988 Cook County, Illinois, elections

Candidate Joseph Berrios David R. Wiltise Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,170,558 714,736 Percentage 60.68% 39.32%

Commissioner before election Thomas A. Jaconetty Democratic Elected Commissioner Joseph Berrios Democratic

In the1988Cook County Board of Appeals special election, one seat on the board were up for election. Due to the death ofHarry Semrow, this special election was held to fill the seat he had served on.^[9] DemocratJoseph Berrios was elected to fill the seat.

Thomas A. Jaconetty had been appointed to hold the seat until the new commissioner elected in this race would be seated.^[9]

31st Wardcommitteeman Joseph Berrios, the Democratic Party organization-endorsed candidate, won the Democratic primary.^[2][9]

The Republican Party nominated David R. Wiltse, an attorney who had worked in various positions for the state of Illinois and at the time of the election was a special assistant attorney general representing theIllinois Lottery. After losing the general election, Wiltse would remain in that office until 1994. In 1993, he began working as thecity attorney ofDes Plaines, an office he would hold until retiring in 2012.^[10] Wiltse would later run unsuccessfully for judgeships on theCook County Circuit Court in 1998 and 2001.^[11]

No candidates ran in the Illinois Solidarity Party primary.^[2]

In the1988Metropolitan 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.^[1] All three Democratic nominees won.^[1]

Pasrtisan elections were held for judgeships on the Circuit Court of Cook County due to vacancies.^[1]Retention elections were also held for the Circuit Court.^[1]

Coinciding with the primaries, elections were held to elect the Democratic, Republican, and Illinois Solidaritycommitteemen for the wards of Chicago.^[2]

• 1988 Illinois elections

• 1988 Cook County, Illinois, elections
• Cook County, Illinois elections
• Illinois judicial elections
• Richard M. Daley

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