The Cook County Sheriff is the sheriff of Cook County, Illinois, heading the Cook County Sheriff's Office.
Office description Terms are currently four-years in length.
Officeholders SherriffTerm in officePartyNotesCite John H. Kinzie 1831–1832 Appointed by governor John Reynolds Stephen R. Forbes 1832–1834 Cook County's first elected sheriff Silas W. Sherman 1834–1838 Democratic Isaac R. Gavin 1838–1840 Independent Democrat Ashbel Steele1840–1842 Samuel J. Lowe1842–1846 Isaac Cook1846–1850 William L. Church1850–1852 Cyrus Bradley 1852–1854 James Andrew 1854–1855 James Beach 1855–1856 (acting) John L. Wilson 1856–1858 John Gray1859–1860 Anton C. Hesing 1860–1862 Republican David Hammond1862–1864 John A. Nelson1864–1866 John Lourie Beveridge 1866–1868 Republican Gustav Fischer1868–1870 Absconded in 1869 Benjamin L. Cleaves1870 Simultaneously ex officio Cook County Coroner Timothy Bradley 1870–1872 Charles Kern 1872–1878 Democratic John Hoffman 1878–1880 Republican Orrin L. Mann 1880–1882 Republican Elected in 1880 Seth Hanchett 1882–1886 Republican Canute R. Matson 1886–1890 Republican James H. Gilbert1890–1894 James Pease1894–1898 Republican Ernest Magerstadt1899–1902 Republican Thomas E. Barrett 1902–1906 Democratic Christopher Strassheim 1906–1910 Republican Michael Zimmer 1910–1914 Democratic John E. Traeger 1914–1918 Democratic Charles W. Peters 1918–1922 Republican Peter M. Hoffman December 1922–December 26, 1926 Republican Charles E. Graydon December 29, 1926–December 1928 John E. Traeger December 3, 1928–December 1930 Democratic Had previously served as sheriff William D. Meyering 1930–1934 Democratic John Toman 1934–1938 Thomas J. O'Brien 1938–1942 Democratic A. L. Brodie 1942–1943 Michael F. Mulcahy Elmer Michael Walsh 1946-1950 Republican Elected in 1946 John E. Babb 1950–1954 Republican Joseph D. Lohman 1954–1958 Democrat Frank G. Sain 1958-1962 Democrat Richard B. Ogilvie 1962–1966 Republican Joseph I. Woods 1966–1970 Republican Richard Elrod 1970–1986 Democratic James E. O'Grady 1986–1990 Republican Elected in 1986; lost reelection in 1990 Michael F. Sheahan 1990–2006Democratic Elected in 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002 Tom Dart 2006–presentDemocratic Elected in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022
Election results
| colspan=21 style="text-align:center;" |Cook County Sheriff general elections |- !Year !Winning candidate !Party !Vote (pct) !Opponent !Party ! Vote (pct) !Opponent !Party ! Vote (pct) !Opponent !Party ! Vote (pct) !Opponent !Party ! Vote (pct) !Opponent !Party ! Vote (pct) |- | 1832...1898 | colspan=18 | |- |1902 | | Thomas E. Barrett | | Democratic | | 141,822 ( %) | | Daniel D. Healy | | Republican | | 135,036 ( %) | | James P. Larsen | | Social Democratic | | 13,134 ( %) | | Henry Sale | | Socialist Labor | | 5,973 ( %) || Joseph P. Tracy || Prohibition || 4,480 (1.32%) | Thomas Donegan | Single Tax | 908 ( %) |- |1906 | | Christopher Strassheim | | Republican | | 131,608 ( %) | | Harry J. Gibbons | | Democratic | | 93,836 ( %) | James J. Gray | Independent League | 49,296 ( %) | | 26,055 | | Socialist | | 26,055 ( %) || S. A. Wilson || Prohibition || 3,735 (%) | John Fitzpatrick | Progressive Alliance | 1,400 ( %) |- |1910 | | Michael Zimmer | | Democratic | | 165,445 ( %) | | Frank A. Volger | | Republican | | 145,598 | | William Van Bodegraven | | Socialist | | 27,588 ( %) || O. F. Sarber || Prohibition || 5,038 (%)
|1914 | | John E. Traeger | | Democratic | | 166,335 ( %) | | George K. Schmidt | | Republican | | 112,502 | | Frederick S. Oliver | | Progressive | | 50,117 ( %) | | Bernard McMahon | | Socialist | | 23,319 ( %) || George W. Hoover || Prohibition || 1,229 (%)
|1918 | | Charles W. Peters | | Republican | | 177,912 ( %) | | Anton Cermak | | Democratic | | 174,829 (%) | | Adolf Dreifuss | | Socialist | | 19,572 ( %)
| 1922...1982 | colspan=18 | |- |1986 | | James E. O'Grady | | Democratic | | 706,659 (51.12%) | | Richard J. Elrod | | Democratic | | 673,233 (48.79%)
|1990 | | Michael F. Sheahan | | Democratic | | 719,489 (55.41%) | | James E. O'Grady | | Republican | | 369,631 (28.47%) |Text style="background:#D2B48C | Tommy Brewer |Text style="background:#D2B48C | Harold Washington Party |Text style="background:#D2B48C | 191,101 (14.72%) |Text style="background:#008000 | William M. Piechuch, Sr. |Text style="background:#008000 | Illinois Solidarity |Text style="background:#008000 | 18,318 (1.41%) |- |1994 | | Michael F. Sheahan | | Democratic
| | John D. Tourtelot | | Republican
|Text style="background:#D2B48C | William A. Brown |Text style="background:#D2B48C | Harold Washington Party |Text style="background:#D2B48C | | William J. Benson | Populist
|1998 | | Michael F. Sheahan | | Democratic | | 903,053 (71.11%) | | LeRoy Martin | | Republican | | 366,867 (28.89%)
|2002 | | Michael F. Sheahan | | Democratic | | 984,348 (76.88%) | | Ronald Swick | | Republican | | 296,062 (23.12%)
|2006 | | Tom Dart | | Democratic | | 942,113 (74.70%) | | Peter Garza | | Republican | | 319,011 (25.30%)
|2010 | | Tom Dart | | Democratic | | 1,041,696 (77.26%) | | Frederick Collins | | Republican | | 257,682 (19.11%) | | Marshall P. Lewis | | Green | | 48,930 (3.63%)
|2014 | | Tom Dart | | Democratic | | 1,055,783 (100%)
|2018 | | Tom Dart | | Democratic | | 1,455,825 (100%)
|2022 | |Tom Dart | | Democratic | |1,041,525 (74.21%) | | Lupe Aguirre | | Republican | | 321,252 (22.89%) | | Brad Sandefur | | Libertarian | | 40,752 (2.90%)
References