As I’d anticipated and predicted, in this area the real story is how little change there’s actually been. Governor Rod Blagojevich has been returned to office in a battle of the political insiders. No surprise there.  Todd Stroger, son of the previous Cook County Board President, defeated challenger Tony Peraica. Stroger has the reputation of being an amiable dunce, without much relevant experience or acumen, in all likelihood a figurehead for his ward and party organization. His ward organization further has the reputation for extreme corruption and there have been allegations of systematic looting of Cook County Hospital. Stroger’s claims that he’ll reform Cook County politics are surreal.
There were no surprises in the Cook County Congressional races. In the hotly contested 6th Congressional District, Peter Roskam defeated Tammy Duckworth. Duckworth, a severely wounded Iraq war veteran, was unable to flip Henry Hyde’s old Congressional District despite a Democratic night, a referendum on the Iraq war, and major infusions of cash, into the Democratic column. If the Democrats can’t take this seat under these conditions, I doubt they can take it at all.
Melissa Bean held her 8th Congressional District seat against David MacSweeney (see above).
Basically it was a good day for incumbents or for the existing way of doing business here. I’ve seen some attempts to paint the local results as a victory for the national Democratic Party. I don’t think that conclusion bears scrutiny. Perhaps Democratic incumbents held their ground or increased their lead due to the nationalization of the election but I think it was local issues and loyalties that determined outcomes.
