West Cook News

Republican Cook County Commissioner Sean Morrison claimed victory in a recent primary election; now, he moves on to November.

“It was a great night here in Orland Park,” he wrote on Facebook.

Ballotpedia reported that Morrison took office in 2015 and his current term is expected to end this year.

Morrison won 57.2% of the GOP vote in Tuesday's primary election, defeating challenger Elizabeth “Liz” Doody Gorman, the Daily Herald reported. Morrison will face Democrat Daniel Calandriello in the general election.

Suburban Chicago Land Columnist Ray Hanania reported that Morrison wrote a letter to Cook County Judge John Hynes for Anthony Martin, a senior manager at Morrison Security, to have a lighter sentence instead of jail time.

Hynes charged Martin for sexually harassing a 14-year-old girl at a pool party at Morrison’s home.

Morrison is one of 17 Cook County Commissioners who make up the Board of Commissioners, which is headed by Democrat Toni Preckwinkle, according to a Cook County website. Morrison represents the 17th district, which is home to around 300,000 residents.

WBEZ reported Morrison’s hometown police patrolled in his area approximately 400 times since 2017. Police say it’s because he’s a commissioner.

“I can certainly, unequivocally, with 100% confidence be sure that the village board or the village police department will not say that I asked them for any kind of exception,” Morrison said to WBEZ. “I have no knowledge that they have my address listed here in these forms that you’re showing me.”

Palos Park Police Chief Joe Miller confirmed that Morrison didn't ask for the monitoring and said to WBEZ Chicago his officers routinely keep their eyes on “prominent personalities.”

Commissioner Morrison was first appointed to the Cook County board in 2015, and in 2018 he was elected to serve a four-year term, according to his website. He focuses on fighting the county's “tax and spends” policies, working to reduce government costs and providing tax relief.

He wrote the 2017 ordinance that repealed the Cook County Sweetened Beverage (Soda) Tax, and he has also successfully defeated proposals to increase the gasoline tax and cable tax.