Ald. Brendan Reilly challenging Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle in 2026

Downtown Chicago Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) announced Wednesday he is challenging Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle in the Democratic primary next year.

"Cook County government is broken and is long overdue for change," Reilly said in a statement.

Reilly, 53, first announced in April that he was considering a challenge against Preckwinkle in 2026.

Among the issues Reilly said he plans to run on, the fifth-term alderman – whose ward includes parts of the Loop, West Loop, Streeterville, River North, and Mag Mile – cited public safety, rising property taxes, and increased spending, noting the county budget that has grown from $3.6 billion when Preckwinkle took office in 2010 to nearly $10 billion this year.

"People in every corner of Cook County want the same thing: safe neighborhoods, good schools and a fair chance to build a future," Reilly said. "Instead, people are paying more and getting a lot less to show for it. I'm running to change that. I've spent my career fighting for the people against the insiders, crooks and shady deals that infect local government. Now I'm ready to lead Cook County with transparency and integrity and rein in runaway property taxes."

Reilly has represented the 42nd Ward since 2007, when he defeated longtime Ald. Burton Natarus (42nd), who had served for nine terms.

He faces an uphill battle challenging Preckwinkle, who is also chair of the Cook County Democratic Party, and has long had the support of most of the county's labor unions. She easily defeated each of her previous two Democratic challengers, taking nearly 76% of the vote against Richard Boykin in 2022, and defeating Bob Fioretti in 2018 with 61% of the vote.