Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s Democratic primary opponent saddled her with responsibility Wednesday for the “failed Far Left social experiment” that put Kim Foxx in the state’s attorney’s office and elected Brandon Johnson as mayor of Chicago.
Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) took off the gloves in his battle to prevent Preckwinkle, who also chairs the Cook County Regular Democratic Organization, from winning a fifth term as county board president.
Reilly accused Preckwinkle of using the massive windfall earmarked for pandemic relief to “balloon” the county budget and directing $42 million of that “federal slush fund” to guaranteed basic income that he says taxpayers can ill afford.
The county’s version of guaranteed basic income has doled out $500 a month, no strings attached, to help 3,250 struggling families with household expenses.
Reilly also accused Preckwinkle of sending “rafts of money” to non-profits and social service providers without “metrics or data to show whether or not those investments are… moving the needle at all.”
“Were the county flush in money and bursting at the seams with cash, that’s certainly a program we could look at funding. But the bottom line is Cook County is broke like most local governments are,” Reilly told the Sun-Times. “And it certainly doesn’t have the luxury to hand out tens of millions of dollars in literally free money as part of a social experiment.
“The Far Left that has been ushered into office under Toni Preckwinkle’s leadership has been conducting lots of social experiments that… are very expensive. They’re hard for us to afford, and we’re not even sure if there’s any kind of return on investment.”
The most glaring example Reilly cited was Preckwinkle’s decision to back her former chief of staff Kim Foxx as state’s attorney and help Foxx win a second term.
“We saw public safety crumble across Cook County on Kim Foxx’s watch. Kim was there to implement Toni’s policies which were, frankly, charge fewer people with crimes and let’s do our best to empty out the Cook County Jail,” said Reilly. “We had what turned out to be a revolving door policy where the same criminals were being arrested and re-arrested week in and week out. That was an absolute failure.”
Reilly cited Johnson as another example. He was “plucked from obscurity” by Preckwinkle to fill a seat on the Cook County Board, then catapulted into the mayor’s office when Preckwinkle and her allies in the Chicago Teachers Union “moved mountains to get him elected,” Reilly said.
“I would argue that Mayor Johnson has been the worst mayor we’ve seen in recent history by a long shot,” Reilly said.
Preckwinkle returned the political fire.
She argued that Cook County is safer and fiscally stronger because of her leadership, and cited four straight years of increases in the county’s bond rating.
“Every single upgrade has pointed to the same things: Stronger reserve balances. Stabilizing operations and real progress on pensions,” Preckwinkle said. “Our pensions in the county are funded at 66% and, at the Forest Preserves, at 56%. So we’re in great shape in comparison to other municipalities. And that’s because we made a commitment early on to addressing our financial challenges.”
Gun violence is down 50% over the last four years, thanks to a $110 million investment in community violence intervention and $44 million spent on behavioral health, Preckwinkle said.
She also touted the $10 million the county has spent to help 500,000 Cook County residents wipe out $700 million in medical debt.
Preckwinkle dismissed as “garbage” Reilly’s attempt to tie her to the post-pandemic surge in crime under Foxx.
“In March of 2020, what happened? The economy shut down. And we saw — not just in Cook County [but] all the across the country — dramatic increases in things like carjackings. The economic insecurity, anxiety and trauma that all of that caused also saw spikes in violent crimes,” Preckwinkle said.
“I don’t know how anyone can think that a once-in-the century global pandemic and the consequences of that were the responsibility of the state’s attorney. That’s just nonsense. And since the pandemic has ended, we’ve seen dramatic declines in crime all around the country.”
Preckwinkle said Reilly’s political broadside is “either a reflection of his ignorance or deliberate misinformation,” adding, “I guess I’m not surprised, but it’s discouraging.”
Reilly claims to have polling that shows Preckwinkle “deeply under water,” far below the 50% popularity that is considered a bare minimum of an incumbent seeking re-election.
Reilly said he launched his campaign after giving up drinking cold turkey and replacing it with a rigorous workout regimen that has helped him lose 40 pounds. “It’s been a phenomenal decision for me. I don’t miss it…I’m more focused. I just wish I’d made that decision a lot sooner.”
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