As Long as 'The Architect' Remains in Control, Conditions in Chicago Will Worsen

Toni Preckwinkle's picks and policies are leading Chicago to ruin

‍For many months now, Mayor Brandon Johnson, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates, and members of the Democratic Party have led a campaign to oust Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez, who had the audacity to tell the Mayor “no” to an irresponsible pay-day loan to help cover pension and contract costs. They have demeaned and defamed him, all the while proving that the new, “independent” school board — which was legislatively amended after Johnson’s election to give him the power to appoint the majority of members — are just shills for Johnson and Gates’ venal agenda.

Remaining silent while the latest chapter of political corruption was unfolding was Cook County Board President and party boss, Toni Preckwinkle. Despite her unique ability to avoid well-deserved criticism for her inept government and party rule over Cook County, Preckwinkle bears just as much responsibility as the “architect” of the current state of affairs in Chicago.

In both her roles as Democratic Party Chairman and Cook County Board President, Preckwinkle has sustained a quiet public profile, deliberately avoiding any responsibility for the damage done to advance her ideologically and politically driven agendas. Behind the curtain, Preckwinkle is the booming voice demanding the abolition of incarceration and defunding of police. Preckwinkle's tenure has provided us with a string of like-minded elected officials, including former State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, Sheriff Tom Dart, and Mayor Johnson.

Preckwinkle personally selects who receives endorsements to become Cook County Commissioners, who then allow her as President of the County Board to bestow large raises and bloated contracts to the leftist unions that endorse and volunteer for the candidates she chooses. Look no further than her own campaign fund’s top donors, with over $1 million from Service Employees International Union (SEIU) factions, who have significant contracts with the Cook County Health System.

In return for the prodigal contracts they receive from her and Cook County Commissioners, the SEIU and other affiliated unions provide the political muscle, including the foot soldiers that Preckwinkle relies on to win elections. It is this election framework that allowed a failed teacher and part-time County Commissioner, Brandon Johnson, to become Mayor of Chicago. Johnson taught for four years in an elementary school and only one year in a high school before becoming a CTU lobbyist, where he was catapulted into one of the most important elected offices in the country.

Flanked by the Democratic Socialist Party and the Chicago Teachers’ Union, Preckwinkle has recreated “machine politics." This apparatus is built to advance her ideological goals, gaslight the public, and cancel anyone who has the audacity to step out of line.

Most recently, Preckwinkle was successful in ousting the long-time, independent Democrat and the most prominent Latino in county government, Iris Martinez, from her position as Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Martinez was targeted for trying to provide transparency and accountability to the failing criminal justice system, and defied Preckwinkle’s political agenda by endorsing independent candidates.

Martinez was outspent 26-1 by her wealthy opponent, Mariyana Spyropoulos. First appointed to be a Commissioner with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, Spyropoulos had few discernable achievements besides becoming one of the top donors to Preckwinkle’s machine. She spent millions of her own fortune to be elected to an office that pays just over $100,000 a year.

Preckwinkle is the “architect” of this entirely corrupt, political ecosystem in which conflicts of interest and incompetence reign supreme. Flush with power, Preckwinkle anoints candidates for elections, including the elected official who will run the Cook County Board of Elections. Preckwinkle also controls the process to select the candidates for judgeships, including the Circuit, Appellate, and Supreme courts.

Candidates are not seemingly selected by their merits, but to a greater extent whether they can pony up tens of thousands of dollars upon their endorsement which keeps the machine’s finances afloat. When election matters are contested in court or lawsuits are filed, they are assigned to judges who are dependent on Preckwinkle’s Democratic Party for their political survival, which places the entire election process into question.

To understand the scope of Preckwinkle's power, recall the removal of Carmen Navarro Gercone from the ballot for Cook County Sheriff in 2022. An independent, with decades of experience in law enforcement, Navarro Gercone dared to take on Preckwinkle’s protege, Tom Dart. After lawmakers slipped a new training mandate for candidates for Sheriff into the chaotic SAFE-T Act, Dart filed lawsuits to knock Navarro Gercone off the ballot instead of facing his former top aide come election time.

After a Circuit Court judge declared that Navarro Gercone’s 30 years of law enforcement experience far exceeded the new training mandate, the higher courts struck her from the ballot without explaining the reversal of the lower court’s decision. Proving only that justices seated on the Illinois Supreme Court rely on the Democratic Party for their reelection.

Preckwinkle's Party has garnered millions from the unions, contractors, and pension fund investors that do business with Cook County. She has also received financial support from those making fortunes off the criminal justice system, including those who routinely scapegoat or otherwise demonize police.

A faction of the anti-police movement, this network is composed of lawyers, advocates, consultants, and consent decree monitors who have transformed criminal justice reform into a lucrative enterprise. This includes attorneys and law firms who often pursue litigation against Chicago and Cook County governments, and who are among the most generous contributors to the Democratic party.

As crime and taxes soar, residents flee, and businesses shutter, it is important for residents to fully grasp who is responsible for Chicago’s rapid decline. Absent a recall process, Chicago residents may have to languish under the inept Johnson administration for another 30 months.

However, residents should be mindful of the impact Preckwinkle has in her capacity as Cook County Board President and Chairman of the Cook Democratic Party. With Johnson continuing to lead Chicago down the path of destruction, as the 2026 election for County Board President nears, voters will get their chance to remove the "architect" — or her chosen successor — from office.

If voters remain under Preckwinkle’s spell, the corruption and incompetent leadership that has made us less safe, undermined school quality, and helped make the residents of Chicago and Cook County the highest taxed in the nation, will continue without interruption. And then, the "architect" will choose the next Mayor.