North Cook News

Cook County voters have spoken on a wide-range of issues and candidates, and their voice could soon set the tone for a state suddenly grappling with taking a stand on defining itself.  

In an advisory referendum vote, residents overwhelmingly supported the statewide legalization of marijuana as a recreational drug. At the end of the primary election, 68 percent of voters had pulled the lever in favor of “the cultivation, manufacture, distribution, testing, and sale of marijuana and marijuana products for recreational use by adults 21 and older.”

While opponents derided the vote as unfair and misleading, state Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago), the bill’s primary sponsor, pointed to bottom-line numbers as proof of what he said most everyone already knows.

Tonia Khouri

“There is broad public support for legalization,” he told the Chicago Tribune.

The vote was in keeping with the findings of a pair of recent statewide polls conducted by the Paul Simon Institute at Southern Illinois University.

Sponsored by Cassidy and Sen. Heather Stearns (D-Chicago), the bill allows the sale of marijuana for recreational use to anyone over the age of 21 and is touted as being good for up to $700 million in annual tax revenue.

In addition, supporters argue that legalization would eliminate largely ineffective efforts at policing, while simultaneously taking a bite out of illegal drug markets and their often ruthless methods of operation.

A vote in the general assembly could take place as soon as 2019 or soon after the election for governor is held between Republican incumbent Bruce Rauner, who is on record as opposing the measure, and Democratic rival J.B. Pritzker, who supports legalization.

Illinois residents also threw their support behind a $17 million referendum aimed at upholding a variety of Glenview Park District construction projects, in particular the expansion and renovation of the Glenview Ice Center.

With nearly all of the votes counted, almost 65 percent of voters favored the measure with the $17 million being earmarked for such operations as safety improvements to The Grove’s Interpretive Center.

The Chicago Tribune has reported that Park District estimates project that the tax impact will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $35.69 annually for a $500,000 home property.

In the race for the legislature, Eddie Corrigan topped Katie Miller in the Republican primary battle to replace retiring Rep. David Harris (R-Arlington Heights) in the 53rd District. Corrigan will now face Democrat Mark Walker in November.  

With 96 percent of the vote counted, Corrigan registered 5,547 votes for 61.87 percent to Miller's 3,419 votes and 38.13 percent.

Miller based her entire campaign around a vow to lower taxes, arguing that income tax increases like the 32 percent one that was instituted as part of the new state budget particularly take their toll on the residents of her district.

Miller also noted that with all the dysfunction in Springfield, Illinois is the only state in the country to now have fewer people than it did at the turn of the new millennium.

An Arlington Heights resident and outreach coordinator for U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL), Corrigan had the support of the House Republican Organization.

The 53rd House District includes part or all of Arlington Heights Mt. Prospect, Prospect Heights and Des Plaines.

In the 49th House District, Aurora Republican Tonia Khouri easily bested Nic Zito in the race to replace retiring state Rep. Mike Fortner (R-West Chicago).

Khouri’s 5,124 votes were nearly double the amount bagged by Zito, setting the stage for her to face West Chicago Democrat Karina Villa in the fall.

During her campaign, Khouri too lashed out against the new state budget and its 32 percent tax increase, lamenting to the Tribune, "We didn't get pension reform. We didn't get workers' comp reform. We didn't get regulatory reform – nothing."

The 49th District includes parts of Aurora, Bartlett, Batavia, Geneva, Naperville, North Aurora, South Elgin, St. Charles, West Chicago and Wayne.

In the 56th District, Jillian Rose Bernas outlasted GOP rival Charlotte Kegarise, 3,340 votes to 2,233.

During the race, Bernas fended off allegations of ties to powerful House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago). She will now face off against four-term Democratic incumbent Michelle Mussman (D-Schaumburg).

The Madigan allegations surfaced in the form of mailers that were sent to residents; but in the end, Bernas seemed confident that they won’t hurt her cause going forward.  

"I was able to counteract that message just by going door to door and talking to my neighbors," she told the Tribune.

In the 59th District, Republican Karen Feldman topped Marko Sukovic in the race to replace retiring Rep. Carol Sente (D-Vernon Hills).  

Feldman ended the night with roughly 58.8 percent of the vote, compared to Sukovic’s 41.2 percent. The 23-year-old Sukovic is a student at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana.

Feldman will face off against 31-year-old Vernon Township supervisor Daniel Didech, who she has already branded “a career politician in the making,” in the general election.