Cook County Sheriff's Race: IL General Election 2022

COOK COUNTY, IL — For nearly 20 years, Cook County has known one sheriff heading the department, Thomas Dart. The Democratic incumbent has served in the four-year position since 2006. While Dart has not faced any opponents in the primary or general elections the last two cycles (2014 and 2018), he does square off with two challengers this time around. Brad Sanderfur is running as a Libertarian, while Lupe Aguirre has the nod for the Republicans.

Dart, 60, is seeking a fifth term, which would make him the longest serving Cook County Sheriff ever. He has been in Illinois politics since 1991, having formerly served as a member of the Illinois Senate from the 14th District, and a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from the 28th District.

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Ahead of the election, Patch distributed questionnaires to candidates running in contested races. Dart and Aquirre did not respond. Sandefur's responses can be found here.

According to his website, Dart is responsible for overseeing a police department that patrols and investigates crimes, while also hunting for fugitives, throughout suburban Cook County. He also oversees more than 10,000 inmates and 3,000 correctional officers at the Cook County Jail — the largest single-site jail in the nation. Additionally, Dart’s deputies are responsible for providing judicial safety in hundreds of courtrooms scattered across Cook County, while they are also responsible for serving thousands of court orders every year.

In June's Democratic primary, Dart defeated Noland Rivera to get the nod. Fellow candidates Carmen Navarro Gercone and LaTonya Ruffin were removed from the ballot.

On the Republican side, there were no candidates in the primary election, but Aguirre is giving it a go in Tuesday's general election. According to Ballotpedia, Aguirre was born in Durango, Mexico, and lives in Chicago. He earned a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Illinois, a J.D. from Western Michigan University Law School, and a master's degree in Public Administration from the Stuart School of Business at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Aguirre's career experience includes working as a lawyer with his personal firm and as a Chicago police officer.

For the Libertarian party, Sandefur is the selection. Sandefur has over 40 years of law enforcement experience, including 32 with the Cook County Sheriff's Department. He has a master of science degree in criminal justice with a forensic psychology cognate. He is a doctoral candidate in criminal justice leadership.

"The incumbent is a lifelong politician, not a law enforcement officer. The Republican challenger is a lifelong Democrat who suddenly switched affiliations for this election, so he is already lying to the voters," Sandefur said in his questionnaire. "The incumbent is instituting or supporting policies that favor freedom for alleged criminals, increasing victims and public fear, keeping our streets unsafe, making them even less safe, and denying any responsibility for the resultant increase in crime, both violent and nonviolent."