First Hat Tossed Into County Board President Race

By vouchey in News on Mar 30, 2005 6:28PM

Whee! Chicagoist just loves Cook County government! Between all the hospitals, and jails, and courts, and property taxes, there's just so much to love!

That's why we're excited to read that Republican Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica is throwing down the gauntlet and holding a rally this Saturday to announce that he's running for County Board President. Sure it's been thirty-seven years since a Republican was County Board President. And of course current Democratic President John Stroger has a reported $1.6 million in the bank to Peraica's $19,000. But any time someone has the guts to toss their hat into a race against overwhelming odds, Chicagoist is up for watching.

As we've said before, this is just the beginning of the announcements. As much as Cook County Republicans like to imagine the GOP could do here what they did in New York City with Republican mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, it just isn't likely.

The real show will be in the Democratic primary. As soon as the dust settles from next Tuesday's suburban municipal races, and the suburban township committeemen have worked out their allegiances, expect to see a bunch of Democratic announcements. Probably the first one will come in June, we're guessing. Then more in the Fall -- right before the county budget is announced. Then, Chicago and Cook County will have a whole year of political fights. Yahoo!

In the meantime, if you want to see a real live rally for a local Republican office-seeker, go check out Tony Peraica's gathering Saturday at 10:00 a.m. at the Sheridan Hotel and Towers downtown, 301 E. North Water St.