CHICAGO (AP) — Longtime Chicago alderwoman Toni Preckwinkle has been elected Cook County board president over Republican Roger Keats and Green Party candidate Tom Tresser.
With 76 percent of precincts reporting, Preckwinkle had about 69 percent of the votes on Tuesday, compared with 27 percent for Keats and 4 percent for Tresser.
Preckwinkle gave a victory speech Tuesday evening. She says it's a new day in Cook County and vows to clean up corruption and balance the budget in the nation's second largest county.
She'll take over from Cook County Board President Todd Stroger. For 16 years, his family has held the post overseeing a $3 billion budget and some 24,000 jobs.
Stroger's tenure has also been marked by allegations of corruption and patronage.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
