All four Democrats are projected to win their respective seats for Cook County Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner.
Kari K. Steele, Marcelino Garcia and Sharon Waller received 24%, 22.1% and 21.8% of the votes for the three open six-year-term seats, respectively. The general election MWRD race was called with 91.9% of votes tallied by The Associated Press.
Current Water Reclamation District Commissioner Precious Brady-Davis won the special general election for an unexpired two-year term, receiving 67.8% of votes tallied. The special election race was called at about 8:30 p.m. by The Associated Press.
The nine commissioners of the MWRD protect local waterways and manage wastewater and drinking water projects in the Greater Chicago area. Their policy aims to respond to the effects of climate change.
Steele, Garcia and Brady-Davis are all incumbents.
Steele assumed office in 2012 and is currently president of the Board of Commissioners. She ran on her experience as a chemist as well as her time on the Public Building Commission. Garcia assumed office in 2019 and advocates for communities of color, according to his candidate questionnaire with WTTW.
Brady-Davis was appointed to the commission in 2023 by Gov. J.B. Pritzker to fill a vacant seat on the board. She was the first trans Black woman on the Cook County ballot when she initially ran in the 2022 Democratic primary for commissioner.
Waller, the current president of the River Park Advisory Council, also initially ran in the 2022 Democratic primary. She may be the first-ever water engineer on the board.
Republican candidate R. Cary Capparelli, who is projected to lose the special election, also ran in the 2022 general election.
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