Cook County Board president candidates debate crime, property taxes: 3 main takeaways
Cook County Board president candidates debate crime, property taxes | Chicago Report Debates
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Chicago Ald. Brendan Reilly faced off in a debate hosted by Fox Chicago on Tuesday as they compete in the 2026 Democratic primary election.
CHICAGO - The two Democratic primary candidates for Cook County Board president faced off on Fox Chicago Tuesday night, debating how to combat rising property taxes, crime, and other big issues facing the county.
Longtime incumbent Toni Preckwinkle and Chicago Ald, Brendan Reilly, the challenger, are competing for the Democratic nomination in the primary election next month.
Chicago Ald. Brendan Reilly (left) is challenging Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle in the Democratic primary election in 2026. (Getty Images)
Primary Election Day is March 17 in Illinois, but early voting is already underway this month across the Chicago area.
Here are three key takeaways from Tuesday night's debate on The Chicago Report.
Work with Trump
Preckwinkle continued her attacks against Reilly for his "long association" with President Trump.
"He has not spoken out against the atrocities that the Trump administration has committed and … right before Trump is inaugurated promising mass deportations, [Reilly] votes to weaken, to weaken, the sanctuary city ordinance," Preckwinkle said. "I think that’s unconscionable."
Reilly said the accusation of a "relationship" with Trump is "bogus." The alderman referenced footage of him with Trump at an opening ceremony of a hotel in Chicago years before he ran for president. Preckwinkle has used that footage in ads attacking Reilly.
Reilly also said a $5,000 campaign contribution he received from Trump was donated to Planned Parenthood Illinois and an immigration rights group.
He then accused the Cook County Democratic Party, which has been chaired by Preckwinkle for years, of taking "a lot more money than was given to me." Reilly also accused Preckwinkle of voting to approve the development of Trump Tower in Chicago’s downtown, including the building’s large sign, when she was a City Council member.
"I was not on the City Council when Toni Preckwinkle voted to give him the air rights to build his building, and she gave him entitlements for a much larger sign than is on the building today, which forced [former Mayor] Rahm Emanuel and I to work with the city’s law department to negotiate down the size," Reilly said. "So that is hypocrisy by definition."
Finger-pointing over taxes
Reilly and Preckwinkle repeatedly pointed fingers over their records on raising taxes in their respective offices.
Preckwinkle’s office has come under fire for having Tyler Technologies handle the management of Cook County’s property tax bills, which the company has bungled, leading to long delays of bills being sent out and money being distributed to local governments.
"Toni ushered in this Tyler Technologies contract," Reilly said. "It was her bureau of technologies that was supposed to execute it, manage it, make sure they were meeting their deadlines, their metrics, and they failed at every turn."
The delays have led to local governments needing to borrow money to cover their expenses as they wait for proceeds. Preckwinkle said the county chose the vendor that leaders believed at the time was best able to handle the modernization of the property tax billing system.
Preckwinkle said in response to the tax bill problems, the county "stepped up oversight," brought in additional technical support, and "instituted pay for performance." Just hours before Tuesday’s debate, Preckwinkle’s office announced that the first installment of 2025 property tax bills will be mailed by March 2.
"Now we’ve got a modernized system in place," Preckwinkle said. "Going forward, it will be transparent and accountable. The bills will be out on time."
Preckwinkle also criticized Reilly for his support of the so-called alternative city budget as an alderman last year, which included tax hikes to help close a $1 billion deficit. Reilly pointed out that he has routinely opposed property tax increases as an alderman.
She said that Cook County during her tenure hasn’t raised property taxes over 15 years and is "in great financial shape."
"That can’t be said for the city," she added.
Preckwinkle doesn't endorse Johnson
Reilly repeatedly deflected criticisms of city government by pointing to Preckwinkle’s support of Mayor Brandon Johnson.
"Your mentee has done a phenomenally horrible job running the City of Chicago," Reilly said, referring to Johnson.
Reilly has been a vociferous critic of Johnson and repeated those criticisms on Tuesday in attempt to tie Preckwinkle to the mayor. He referred multiple times to Johnson and his policies as being "brought to us by Toni Preckwinkle."
Preckwinkle, who unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Chicago in 2019, supported Johnson’s campaign for the County Board and then for mayor in 2023. But when she was asked about endorsing Johnson for a second term, Preckwinkle didn’t answer the question.
"You know, I’m focused on the County Board race, and I think that Brendan Reilly, if he’s running for this job, ought to be focused on the County Board race too," she said. "He can talk about Mayor Johnson all he wants, this is the county, Cook County."
She added she tries to "stay in my own lane," when asked to evaluate Johnson’s job performance as mayor.
You can watch Fox Chicago's previous debates for the 2026 primary election season here: