Lyons Township Assessor Pat Hynes, running as a reformer, defeated the former reform candidate Fritz Kaegi in Tuesday’s Democratic primary for Cook County Assessor.
Hynes, his family, and hundreds of supporters were gathered at Salerno’s in Hodgkins when it became evident he would unseat the two-term incumbent..
In the end, Hynes came out on top in suburban Cook County 154,877 to 119,912 with over 99% of precincts reporting. In the City of Chicago, with 40 precincts still out, it was Kaegi slightly ahead with 165,148 to Hynes’ 160,094.
Hynes took the stage about 9 p.m. to address the cheering crowd.
“From day one, we will work with homeowners, renters, business owners, and local governments across Cook County to make sure the system works the way it should.
“From day one, I will serve every resident of Cook County with integrity, fairness and transparency. We will clean up the underlying data to ensure the most accurate and equitable assessment possible.
“We will restore trust in the system that has felt uncertain for far too long by hiring qualified professionals and investing in training for our front line staff. We will fulfill the core responsibility of this office to discover myths and fairly value all property in Cook County.
“We will put billions of dollars of missing properties back on the tax rolls and ensure that luxury properties pay their fair share so the burden is no longer shifted on the working families.”
He closed with, “Thank you for your support, thank you for your trust, and thank you for believing in the future of Cook County. Now it’s time to get to work.”
After his speech, Hynes was thankful for all that helped with his campaign.
“It’s exhilarating and really humbling with all the folks that are in this room and how hard everyone worked to make this happen,I’m overjoyed. As strange as it may sound, this is the work that I love doing, and I’m so excited to work for the people of Cook County.”
Hynes, of Western Springs, has been a frequent critic of Kaegi and blames the incumbent for mismanaging the property tax system in Cook County.
Hynes has more than 30 years of experience in the property tax industry. He spent more than 20 years working at the Assessor’s Office. He’s a member of the International Association of Assessing Officers and is a certified Illinois assessing officer.
Kaegi was elected in 2018 as a reformer after knocking off incumbent Assessor Joe Berios, who was accused of hiring family members and taking improper campaign donations.