Toni Preckwinkle Wins Cook County Board President

Democrat Toni Preckwinkle beat out Republican Robert Keats and Tom Tresser of the Green Part for Cook County Board President.

The former alderman claimed victory with 68-percent of the vote.

"I believe that it's a new day in Cook County. I'm confident we can meet the challenges put before us. ... We're going to cut taxes, we're going to clean up county government by ending patronage and doing everything in our power to root out the fraud that has cost taxpayers millions of dollars."

Preckwinkle's campaign for office got a boost when she won the primary over the highly unpopular Todd Stroger. Additionally, Stroger had the support of the Chicago Machine making the victory a sign of Preckwinkle's distance from politics as usual in the Windy City.

"When I started this race two years ago the conventional wisdom was that I was a long shot."

She plans to make big changes in office which includes sweeping out a number of employees who were part of Stroger's administration and cutting spending.

"County government has operated in the shadows for far too long in the shadows, it's time to open up," said Preckwinkle in her victory speech.

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