Cook County Clerk
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The Cook County Clerk is the clerk of county government in Cook County, Illinois.
History
The office of Cook County Clerk was established in 1831, the year that Cook County, Illinois was created. For the first several years, the clerk was appointed by the three-member Cook County Board of Commissioners. This was changed, and it became an elected office with a four-year term in 1837, with the first election being held in August of that year.
Officeholders
| # | Clerk | Term in office | Party | Notes | Cite | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | William Lee | 1831 | Appointed in March 1831, resigned in December 1831 | |||
| 2nd | Richard J. Hamilton | 1831–1837 | Democratic | Appointed to the office in December 1831 | ||
| 3rd | George Davis | 1837–1849 | The first elected Cook County Clerk (first elected in August 1837) | |||
| 4th | Edmund S. Kimberly | 1849–1853 | Elected in August and November 1849 | |||
| 5th | Charles B. Farwell | 1853–1861 | ||||
| 6th | Laurin P. Hilliard | 1861–1865 | ||||
| 7th | Edward S. Salomon | 1865–November 1869 | Republican | |||
| 8th | John G. Gindele | 1869–January 1872 | Died in office | |||
| 9th | George W. Wheeler | 1873–December 1873 | ||||
| 10th | Hermann Lieb | 1873–December 1877 | ||||
| 11th | Ernest F.C. Klokke | 1877–December 1882 | Term extended, by law, for one year | |||
| 12th | Michael W. Ryan | 1882–December 1886 | ||||
| 13th | Henry Wulff | 1886–1894 | Republican | |||
| 14th | Philip Knopf | 1894–1902 | Republican | |||
| 15th | Peter B. Olsen | 1902–1906 | Republican | |||
| 16th | Joseph F. Haas | 1906–1910 | Republican | |||
| 17th | Robert Sweitzer | December 1910–December 1934 | Democratic | Elected in 1910, 1914, 1918, 1922, 1926, 1930, 1934; resigned to serve as Cook County Treasurer in December 1934 | ||
| 18th | Michael J. Flynn | 1935–1950 | Democratic | Appointed in 1935; elected in 1938, 1942, 1946 | ||
| 19th | Richard J. Daley | December 1950 – 1955 | Democratic | Elected in 1950 and 1954; resigned in 1955 to serve as mayor of Chicago | ||
| 20th | Edward J. Barrett | 1955–1973 | Democratic | Appointed in 1955; elected in 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970; resigned in 1973 | ||
| 21st | Stanley Kusper | 1973–December 1990 | Democratic | Appointed in 1973, elected in 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986 | ||
| 22nd | David Orr | December 1990–December 2018 | Democratic | Elected in 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 | ||
| 23rd | Karen Yarbrough | December 2018–April 2024 | Democratic | Elected in 2018 and 2022; died in office in April 2024 | ||
| – | Cedric Giles (acting) | 2024 | Acting clerk | |||
| 24th | Monica Gordon | December 2024–present | Democratic | Elected in 2024 |
Recent election results
| Year | Winning candidate | Party | Vote (pct) | Opponent | Party | Vote (pct) | Opponent | Party | Vote (pct) | Opponent | Party | Vote (pct) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cook County Clerk general elections | ||||||||||||
| 1986 | Stanley Kusper | Democratic | 929,949 (68.35%) | Diana Nelson | Republican | 430,568 (31.35%) | ||||||
| 1990 | David D. Orr | Democratic | 799,884 (63.48%) | Sam Panayotovich | Republican | 353,531 (28.06%) | Heldia R. Richardson | Harold Washington Party | 106,588 (8.46%) | |||
| 1994 | David D. Orr | Democratic | Edward Howlett | Republican | Herman W. Baker, Jr. | Harold Washington Party | Curtis Jones | Populist | ||||
| 1998 | David D. Orr | Democratic | 988,136 (77.30%) | Judie A. Jones | Republican | 290,256 (22.70%) | ||||||
| 2002 | David D. Orr | Democratic | 992,441 (76.11%) | Kathleen A. Thomas | Republican | 311,552 (23.89%) | ||||||
| 2006 | David D. Orr | Democratic | 1,034,263 (80.78%) | Nancy Carlson | Republican | 246,044 (19.22%) | ||||||
| 2010 | David D. Orr | Democratic | 1,047,462 (77.77%) | Angel Garcia | Republican | 299,449 (22.23%) | ||||||
| 2014 | David D. Orr | Democratic | 1,061,515 (100%) | |||||||||
| 2018 | Karen Yarbrough | Democratic | 1,415,244 (99.07%) | Others | Write-ins | 13,120 (0.93%) | ||||||
| 2022 | Karen Yarbrough | Democratic | 1,003,854 (71.58%) | Tony Peraica | Republican | 368,095 (26.26%) | Joseph Schreiner | Libertarian | 30,514 (2.18%) | |||
| 2024 |