June primary election takes shape with candidates facing off

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Democratic challenger Richard Boykin trade barbs

The Democratic primary race for Cook County’s top elected office has intensified, with incumbent County Board President Toni Preckwinkle trying to paint a newly filed opponent as an ally to Republicans and the challenger denouncing what he said was her support of the “defund the police” movement.

Richard Boykin, a former county commissioner for the 1st District, filed his nominating papers for the June 28 primary a couple of hours shy of Monday’s deadline. His bid came a week after Preckwinkle submitted her own signatures for a fourth term as the county’s top executive.

Last-day filers for other county offices included Kari Steele, the Democratic aiming to unseat first-term assessor Fritz Kaegi in the Democratic primary, and new challengers to Sheriff Tom Dart.

Following Boykin’s Monday petitions submission, the Oak Park resident swiftly labeled Preckwinkle as a “defund the police” backer. It was an attempt to tie Preckwinkle to the movement that targeted police department budgets following the 2020 murder of George Floyd.

“I wouldn’t vote to defund the police,” Boykin said. “When you vote to defund the police, you send a message to them that you don’t care about them. That’s what the county board did last year. And (Preckwinkle) allowed that to happen.”

Boykin was referencing a symbolic resolution passed by Cook County commissioners with Preckwinkle’s approval in July 2020 that called for the county to “redirect funds from policing and incarceration to public services not administered by law enforcement.”

After the vote, Preckwinkle had reaffirmed to reporters: “I’m for reducing and redirecting our investment in law enforcement. … We’re over-policed, and there’s a disproportionate number of Black deaths at the hands of the police.”

Preckwinkle’s campaign spokesman Hannah Fierle said Boykin makes a “misleading claim” in criticizing the resolution as a “defund the police” measure.

“The resolution proposed several ways for the County to commit to increasing funding for programs and policies to support residents and address the root causes of violence,” Fierle said. “The resolution is not, and was never about, cutting services or laying people off, but better envisioning how the County can allocate funding to support residents in areas like healthcare, housing, economic development, and housing and rental assistance.”

Fierle added, “It also is important to note that this legislation came from a moment in time when the disparities for the Black community were on display more than almost any other time in recent history.”

Ultimately, the sheriff ’s office, which runs the county jail and a police force of about 500 officers, saw its budget shrink by about 4% the following year, but it more than recouped that in the 2022 budget.

Preckwinkle’s campaign also went on the attack against Boykin, contrasting her attention to community investment during the COVID-19 crisis with what Fierle said was Boykin’s affinity toward reducing government services.