In an effort to increase transparency, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is releasing the tax returns he and his wife, Janine, filed in 2008 and 2009. If the other three candidates that are running for the seat don't as well, “it tells me there must be something they don’t want you to see,” he told the Tribune. The other Democratic candidates replied quickly to denying the request. more ›

Todd Stroger filed for re-election of his seat as Cook County Board President late Monday afternoon. By filing the nearly 22,000 signatures he's collected to put him on the ballot so late - he filed less than an hour before the deadline - he'll secure the last position on the ballot, considered second to the top spot in terms of voting booth strategy. "I feel great," Stroger told the press after filing. "I feel like 150 pounds of dynamite." While Stroger is perceived as politically vulnerable after a tenure of tax increases and budget debacles, that 150 pounds of dynamite has yet to really go off on Cook County residents. The 22,000 signatures are only about half of what a few of his opponents turned in. Never one to take the blame himself, Stroger instead told the Sun-Times it had to do with his helpers: "Normally, you have people who collect signatures. It's hard getting people out there to collect signatures." more ›