Pappas holds comfortable lead in treasurer's race; Kaegi leading Libertarian opponent

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas, who has held the office since 1998, appears headed for another term.

With 70% of the vote counted, Pappas garnered 937,788 votes, while Republican challenger Peter Kopsaftis, the Barrington Township Republican committeeman who lost a Republican primary bid for the 8th Congressional seat, collected 296,227 votes. Libertarian Michael Murphy trailed with 29,228 votes.

Pappas ran a campaign that touted her office's efficiency and technology initiatives that have promoted transparency.

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi also appeared on his way to securing reelection. With a majority of the precincts counted in Cook County and the city of Chicago, Kaegi led Libertarian Nico Tsatsoulis 883,812 to 205,044 votes.

Kaegi ran on a program of easing the tax burden on homeowners and making the uber-wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share, while Nico Tsatsoulis called for limiting assessment increases to 2%.