1988 Cook County, Illinois, elections

The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 8, 1988.
Primaries were held March 15, 1988.
Elections were held for Clerk of the Circuit Court, Recorder of Deeds, State's Attorney, one seat on the Cook County Board of Appeals, three seats on the Water Reclamation District Board, and judgeships on the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Election information

1988 was a presidential election year in the United States. The primaries and general elections for Cook County races coincided with those for federal races and those for state elections.

Political context

After Harold Washington's 1987 re-election as Chicago mayor and the end of the Council Wars gridlock on the Chicago City Council, Washington reconciled with the Cook County Regular Democratic Organization. Before his death in November 1987, he endorsed the regular organization's slate of candidates for Cook County office in 1988 (Richard M. Daley for re-election as state's attorney; Aurelia Pucinski for clerk of courts; and Carol Moseley-Braun for recorder of deeds.

Voter turnout

Primary election

Turnout in the primaries was 45.63%, with 1,236,750 ballots cast.

Primary	Chicago vote totals	Suburban Cook County vote totals	Total Cook County vote totals
Democratic	742,281	244,812	987,093
Republican	83,625	161,042	244,667
Illinois Solidarity	127	77	204
Nonpartisan	733	6,053	6,786
Total	826,766	411,984	1,236,750

General election

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

Straight-ticket voting

Ballots had a straight-ticket voting option in 1988.

Party	Number of straight-ticket votes
Democratic	442,219
Republican	276,923
Communist	102
Illinois Solidarity	508
John Davis Comm. Act.	0
Independent Tax Reform	974
Independent Progressive	0
Libertarian	1,531
Marie Goodlow Party	348

Clerk of the Circuit Court

In the 1988 Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County election, incumbent clerk Morgan M. Finley, a Democrat, did not seek reelection. Democrat Aurelia Pucinski was elected to succeed him.

Primaries

Democratic

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

Republican

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

Illinois Solidarity

No candidates ran in the Illinois Solidarity Party primary.

Recorder of Deeds

In the 1988 Cook County Recorder of Deeds election, incumbent first-term recorder of deeds Harry Yourell, a Democrat, did not seek reelection, instead running to be a commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. Democrat Carol Moseley Braun was elected to succeed him.
Mosely Braun's election made her the first African-American to hold the office of Cook County recorder of deeds.

Primaries

Democratic

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

Republican

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

Candidate	Experience	Ref
Maureen Murphy	Worth Township Clerk
Bernard Stone	Chicago alderman since 1973

;Results

Illinois Solidarity

No candidates ran in the Illinois Solidarity Party primary. The party ultimately nominated Edward M. Wojkowski.

State's Attorney

In the 1988 Cook County State's Attorney election, incumbent second-term state's attorney Richard M. Daley, a Democrat, was reelected.

Primaries

Illinois Solidarity

No candidates ran in the Illinois Solidarity Party primary.

Cook County Board of Appeals (special election)

In the 1988 Cook County Board of Appeals special election, one seat on the board were up for election. Due to the death of Harry Semrow, this special election was held to fill the seat he had served on. Democrat Joseph 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.

Primaries

Democratic

31st Ward committeeman Joseph Berrios, the Democratic Party organization-endorsed candidate, won the Democratic primary.

Republican

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 the Illinois Lottery. After losing the general election, Wiltse would remain in that office until 1994. In 1993, he began working as the city attorney of Des Plaines, an office he would hold until retiring in 2012. Wiltse would later run unsuccessfully for judgeships on the Cook County Circuit Court in 1998 and 2001.

Illinois Solidarity

No candidates ran in the Illinois Solidarity Party primary.

Water Reclamation District Board

In the 1988 Metropolitan 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. All three Democratic nominees won.

Judicial elections

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

Other elections

Coinciding with the primaries, elections were held to elect the Democratic, Republican, and Illinois Solidarity committeemen for the wards of Chicago.