Berrios declares victory in Cook County assessor race

Joseph Berrios declared victory late Tuesday with a clear lead in the Democratic primary race for Cook County assessor.

With about 95 percent of precincts reporting, unofficial results showed Berrios leading with 193,191 votes, compared to Robert Shaw with 165,632 and Raymond Figueroa with 132,816.

Berrios thanked his family and supporters "because I never thought I'd get to this point. Here I came from Cabrini Green and believe the people responded to my message."

Berrios will face Evanston Township Assessor Sharon Strobeck-Eckersall in the November general election.

The former state representative from the 3rd District, Berrios is currently a commissioner of the Cook County Board of Review and chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party.

He campaigned on promises to reopen suburban assessor's branch offices and to transform the office from computer-generated assessments to one where the taxpayer has a bigger voice.

Berrios also promised to implement a hearing schedule so taxpayers could meet face-to-face with analysts and a taxpayer-assistance team, which would be formed.

He also wants to revise the reassessment notice to provide a total picture of a property's history to include payments, sales, assessments of comparable properties, appeal history and other data.

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<li><a href="/news/politics/elections/2010/primary/race/?id=147">Complete coverage of the Cook Co. assessor race</a></li>

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