Fractious Democrats fight to retain Cook presidency

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger faces three challengers in the Democratic Primary set for Tuesday.

Chicago Hyde Park Alderman Toni Preckwinkle, Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District President Terrence O'Brien all are campaigning against a 1 percent increase in the local sales tax proposed by Stroger and approved by the county board in 2008.

Stroger maintains the increased sales tax has enabled the county to remain fiscally stable while other local governments have faced deficits. He's fighting against cuts in the county Health & Hospitals System that he says will be forced by the reduced sales tax, with the 1 percent increase scheduled to be cut in half in July.

His opponents, however, insist county government is fat and corrupt and ready for reform. O'Brien cites his good-government record running the MWRD, with a $1.6 billion budget - about half the size of Cook County - for the last dozen years.

Preckwinkle touts her progressive record in Chicago's City Council, citing as an example her vote against Mayor Richard M. Daley's deal to privatize parking meters. Brown claims to be a reformer as well, although she's been criticized for using state workers in her campaign and accepting political contributions from employees.

The victor on Tuesday will face the prospect of having to unite a divided Democratic electorate against an emboldened Republican insurgency in the fall general election.