Oak Park has highest voter turnout in suburban Cook County

Wednesday, November 7th, 2012 5:00 PM

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Show Gallery

By Anna Lothson

Staff Reporter

Oak Park had the highest turnout (79.8 percent) of any suburban Cook County township, followed by River Forest (76.1 percent).

The unofficial election results released on the Cook County Clerk's website show President Barack Obama got 82.5 percent of the vote in Oak Park, or 22,707 votes.

The Mitt Romney ticket fell drastically below that, garnering 15.6 percent, or 4,286 votes. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson got 256 votes, while Green Party candidate Jill Stein got 276 votes.

These numbers are similar to the 2008 Presidential Election when Obama earned 84.3 percent of the vote over John McCain's 14.5 percent.

Although the numbers aren't official, the preliminary results show that voting in Oak Park Township is down from 2008. The total number of votes accounted for this year was 27,525, compared to 2008's number of 29,171. The 2012 numbers, however, may change before the results become certified.

The Democratic ticket swept up the votes for the election in Oak Park Township, starting with Democrat Luis Gutierrez, who got 73 percent of the vote for the 4th Congressional District over Republican challenger Hector Concepcion. Danny Davis also led the Democrats in the 7th Congressional District with 77.5 percent of the vote. Republican Rita Zak got 14.6 percent, while Independent John Monaghan got about 8 percent. The race for the Illinois State Senate and House of Representatives were all unopposed Democrats.

Reader Comments

8 Comments - Add Your Comment

Comment Policy

muntz

Posted: November 21st, 2012 9:16 AM

Ah, the township...yet another antiquated layer of IL government that should either roll up to the county level or combine with existing village services.

Susan Forrester from Oak Park

Posted: November 16th, 2012 9:23 AM

We're not a suburb? Maybe a little therapy to address a denial issue is in order. High crime and cramped spaces aside, people who live in authentic places never talk like that. We're not the only place with cool old homes and a train into "the city".

Stu Ross from St. Joseph, MI

Posted: November 16th, 2012 9:01 AM

Especially impressive is Obama's following after failing to prosecute even one Wall Street executive for orchestrating a housing collapse that's caused 25 million Americans (mostly children) to lose their homes, and a $9 Trillion transfer of wealth.

Bruce Samuels from Oak Park

Posted: November 9th, 2012 11:33 PM

The Green Party's candidates for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District received over 4,000 votes and the referendum on fracking sponsored by the West Side Greens, a Green Party local, passed by over 83% of the vote, receiving over 22,000 votes.

Julia from Oak Park

Posted: November 9th, 2012 5:27 PM

We're not a suburb, (John K is right, we're a hamlet) but it's still nice to beat the suburbs in higher voter turnout. Or maybe it's because we're not a suburb that we excel in being informed and involved.

Jennifer

Posted: November 8th, 2012 12:17 PM

Now if only these same folks would vote in our LOCAL elections.......VMA all the way

Suzie Anthony

Posted: November 8th, 2012 11:34 AM

When will WJ publish the local results for the entire ballot?

John K from Oak Park

Posted: November 8th, 2012 9:06 AM

Very impressive, even for these two "informed and involved" hamlets. Way to go!

What's new on OakPark.com