Morrison knocks off former ally for 17th District GOP nomination

By Jeff Vorva

In the first head-to-head election battle between the two people who have owned the Cook County 17^th District seat for the past 20 years, Sean Morrison beat out former ally Liz Gorman for the Republican nomination Tuesday.

Orland Park’s Gorman had the job as 17^th District commissioner from 2002-2015 but gave it up to work in the private sector. Palos Park’s Morrison took over and, at the time, had Gorman’s support.

For most of the 2022 campaign, the two did not play nice and there was some ugliness leading up to Tuesday’s finale that left both with a bad taste on how it went down.

According to the unofficial results from the Cook County Clerk’s Office, Morrison had 58% of the vote (11,058) to Gorman’s 43 percent (8,280). Election results will not be official until they are certified in the coming weeks.

“I was cautiously optimistic going into it,” Morrison said Tuesday at a celebration at Papa Joe’s restaurant in Orland Park. “In a campaign, you just never know. We worked very hard, and we came up with a very good plan, a smart plan, and we executed it.

“What do say about politics? The people spoke. They are the final judge. It seems like the Republicans know who the candidates are, and they made the decision of what’s real in spite of the nastiness that was put out there. They were smart enough to make the appropriate decision.”

Morrison is slated to face off against former Orland Park trustee Dan Calandriello in November for the seat.

The 54-year-old Morrison said before Tuesday that as a Republican on an overwhelming Democratic board, he made some waves over the years.

But he said he was proud of some of the things he helped fight for, including repealing the Soda Tax, decreasing county government by merging offices to save $8 million a year, organizing private-sector business, commerce and industries, cutting $285 million out of the budget, refinancing bonds to save another $800 million and to turn around a hospital system that was losing $175 million a year in collective revenue.

According to his biography on the Cook County website, Morrison currently serves as chairman of the Workers’ Compensation Committee, vice chairman of the Technology and Innovation Committee and vice chairman of the Audit Committee.

He also sits on the Cook County Board’s Asset Management Committee, Business and Economic Development Committee, Criminal Justice Committee, Finance Committee, Health and Hospital Committee, Emergency Management and Regional Security Committee, Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee, Roads and Bridges Committee Rules and Administration Committee, and the Zoning and Building Committee.

Morrison also serves as a member of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County Board of Commissioners.

He is the CEO and Founder of Morrison Security Corporation, Morrison Security Group & Morrison Investigations Inc. He’s been an owner/partner in the private security industry since 1993.

Morrison Security was recognized as a Fortune 500 fastest growing firm in 2008 and Morrison was recognized as one of Illinois’ top 25 businessmen.

In 2011, Morrison received the Humanitarian of the Year award from the LEADS organization for his many years of volunteer work and his company’s pro-bono services in the field of missing and exploited children. He is a founding member of Operation Restoring Innocence, an organization dedicated to recovering children from the world of child sex trafficking.

Nelson Katsenes way ahead

With 60 of 62 precincts reporting, Orland Park Trustee Cynthia Nelson Katsenes had a commanding lead over Gorman for the position of Republican Committeeperson of Orland Township.

Unofficially, Katsenes had 62 percent of the vote (4,581) to Gorman’s 38 percent (2,781).