Cook Co. Dems push endorsements ahead of primary; two LGBTQ candidates snubbed

The Cook County Democratic Party is pushing its officially endorsed slate of canidates ahead of the June 28 Illinois primary election on social media and on-air radio and television broadcasts.

The slate was chosen last December to allow ample time to shore up support and money well-before the campaign season was to begin. That season is now in full swing.

Cook County Democratic Party Chair Toni Preckwinkle said at the time, "We are proud to present this diverse, accomplished slate of candidates. ... This is a slate that represents the values of our party and we look forward to working hard to elect Democrats up and down the ballot in Cook County."

Contrary to popular belief in Illinois, running as a Democrat or Republican does not automatically mean receiving an endorsement from the political party itself.

Candidates have to compete for an endorsement by appearing before party committee members in a process similar to an intensive job interview. Incumbent office holders usually get to bypass the process, though not always.

Several LGBTQ candidates were snubbed by the Cook County Democrats including activist Rick Garcia, the openly gay former outreach coordinator for the Cook County Sheriff's office, and Precious W. Brady-Davis, the openly transgender communication director at Sierra Club of Chicago.

Both Garcia and Brady-Davis received endorsements from Equality Illinois, the state's largest LGBTQ advocacy group.

The endorsed candidates are:

• U.S. Senate: Tammy Duckworth


• Governor and Lt. Governor: JB Pritzker and Juliana Stratton


• Attorney General: Kwame Raoul


• Treasurer: Michael Frerichs


• Comptroller: Susana Mendoza


• Secretary of State: Alexi Giannoulias


• Cook County Board President: Toni Preckwinkle


• Cook County Assessor: Fritz Kaegi


• Cook County Clerk: Karen Yarbrough


• Cook County Sheriff: Tom Dart


• Cook County Treasurer: Maria Pappas


• Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (6 year term): Mariyana Spropoulos, Yumeka Brown, Patricia Theresa Flyn


• Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (2 year term): Daniel Pogorzelski


• Cook County Board of Review District 1: George Cardenas


• Cook County Board of Review District 2: Michael Cabonargi


• Cook County Board of Review District 3: Larry R. Rogers, Jr.


• Appellate Court: Dominique Ross


• Appellate Court Alternate: John Ehrlich


• Circuit Court: Howard Brookins, Araceli De La Cruz, Tom Donnelly, Ruth Gudino, Diana Lopez, Tom Nowinski, Yolanda Sayre, Rena Van Tine, Michael Weaver


• Circuit Court Alternate: Tracie Porter (1st), Marcia O'Brien Conway (2nd), Jennifer Callahan (3rd), Ashonta Rice (4th), Pam Saindon (5th), James Murphy Aguliu (6th), Steven McKenzie (7th), James Gleffe (8th), Debjani Desai (9th), Joanne Fehn (10th), Tiffany Brooks (11th)

Almost all the federal, state, and county candidates endorsed by the Cook County Democratic Party have openly supported and spoken for LGBTQ rights, though advocates have argued that almost all have not spoken enough or at all about protecting transgender persons from ongoing violence, harassment, and discrimination.

The primary election will be held on Tuesday, June 28 from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Persons in line before 7 p.m. have the right to stay in line to vote.

Early voting is underway at select locations in each Chicago ward and the various municipalities within Cook County.