All five Cook County commissioner seats likely up for election in 2022

All five members of the Cook County Board of Commissioners could be on the ballot this fall when Election Day rolls around. The reasoning stems from, at least partially, the results of the 2020 census.

This was the report from Auditor Braidy Powers during a committee of the whole work session Jan. 18.

Due to the standard election process, the commissioners from district 1, 3 and 5 were all up for election in 2022 regardless of redistricting. These are commissioners Bob Svaleson, Dave Mills and Ginny Storlie, respectively.

District 2 Commissioner Stacey Hawkins and District 4 Commissioner Ann Sullivan were both elected in 2020. On the standard election calendar, their seats on the county board would not be up for reelection until 2024. However, the redistricting process is likely to put both of their seats on the county board up for election in 2022, Powers told WTIP’s Joe Friedrichs during a recent interview. The District 2 seat on the board is essentially guaranteed to be up for election due to redistricting requirements, Powers said.

Redistricting is the process of redrawing the boundaries of election districts after the completion of the decennial census. The purpose of redistricting is to ensure that the people of each district are equally represented throughout Cook County, Powers said.

Cook County’s population grew by nearly 8 percent during the recent census. The county’s population is 5,600 as of the 2020 count. Therefore, the average district size in terms of population is approximately 1,120 people. District populations cannot vary more than 10 percent from the average for all districts in the county, unless the result forces a voting precinct to be split, according to Powers. If they do, the district must be redrawn, as is likely to be the case for District 2 this year and possibly for District 4, he added.

Though other elected officials in Cook County follow the same district map, such as the ISD 166 School Board, redistricting will not force any other elected posts to expedite their election process, Powers said.

To view a complete breakdown of the varying scenarios and reasons why the districts are likely to be redrawn this year, click here.

Listen to the audio shared below to hear the full interview with WTIP and Auditor Powers.

Joe Friedrichs January 23, 2022