November 9, 2022/Comments Off

Sean Morrison talks to a supporter after keeping his seat on the Cook County Board of Commissioners. (Photos by Jeff Vorva)

Morrison proud of victory but not happy with makeup of Cook County board

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Dan Calandriello campaigns in Orland Park Tuesday morning.

By Jeff Vorva

Sean Morrison will go back to work on the Cook County Board of Commissioners and continue to work with just one Republican ally.

And he’s not happy about that.

Morrison was hoping that perhaps a handful of Republicans could knock off some Democrats Tuesday night and give a little more balance to the board.

When he was first appointed to the board in 2015 there were four Republicans on the 17-member board. When he was elected in 2018, there were two.

After the smoke cleared Tuesday night, it appears that there will still be two. Unofficially, the Palos Park resident won back the 17^th District seat beating out Orland Park’s Dan Calandriello 52.03%-47.97% with 100 percent of the precincts reporting. The election will not be official until the votes are ratified in the coming weeks.

Morrison said he was proud to win again, but was not happy with the bigger picture of the board’s makeup. Just he and Laura Mary Kotelman of the 10^th District will be the lone Republican voices trying to make some noise for their side.

“Honestly, right now I feel sad for the residents,” Morrison said Tuesday night. “That’s truly how I feel. [Board President] Toni Preckwinkle is going to have carte blanche to do whatever the hell she wants.”

He named off a long list of the county’s woes from recent years including high crime and unemployment rates.

“There was an opportunity for residents of Cook County (for a change) and they chose to put the same people right back into office,” he said. “So, I feel sorry for the residents of Cook County, and I feel sorry for the minority population in the county…I don’t know.”

Aside from Morrison and Kotelman, Democrats dominated the board voting on Tuesday.

In the 1^st District, Brandon Johnson won with 92.22% of the vote. In the 4^th District, Stanley Moore garnered 82.16%. In the 5^th, Monica Gordon received 89.13%. In the 6^th District, Donna Miller beat Palos Hills’ Anna Biedrzycki with 67.90%.

The 9^th District was tight with Maggie Trevor beating Matt Podgorski 51.01%-48.99%. In the 11^th District, John P. Daley won with 55.39%. In the 13^th District, Josina Morita had 78.31%. In the 14^th District, Scott Britton had 60.45%.

In the 15^th District, Kevin Morrison won with a 56.94 percentage. In the 16^th District, Frank Aguilar netted 69.08 percent.

To get to Tuesday’s main event, Calandriello beat out LaGrange Trustee Lou Gale in the Democratic primary in June while Morrison beat former 17th District Commissioner Liz Gorman in the Republican primary.

Calandriello called Morrison Wednesday morning to concede after a close race. He said he was outspent 10 to 1 by the incumbent and ran a

grassroots campaign with the help of family and friends.

“I want to thank the voters of the 17th District. We ran a great campaign built on integrity and honesty. We focused on my vision for the future, not negativity towards my opponent. Sadly, we did not win; but we came very close without any support from mega donors or the political

establishment. We were outspent by at least 10 to 1 and still came close. I want to thank my family for all their support during this demanding time. It was an honor to be a candidate, and I thank all my supporters from the bottom of my heart.”

Calandriello said he looks forward to focusing on his law practice in Palos Hills and spending time with his young

family in Orland Park.