Toni Preckwinkle faces challenge from onetime foe Richard Boykin in Democratic Cook County Board President primary

CHICAGO (CBS) — Voters cast their ballots in the Democratic primary for Cook County Board president Tuesday, as three-term incumbent Toni Preckwinkle faces a challenge from former County Board commissioner Richard Boykin.

Boykin served as a Cook County commissioner for one term, from 2014 to 2018 – representing Chicago’s West Side and several western suburbs in the 1st District. During his term on the board, Boykin clashed with Preckwinkle in particular over a tax on soda that Preckwinkle had supported.

With Democratic Commissioner Boykin leading the way, the county board eventually repealed Preckwinkle’s one-cent-an-ounce tax on sweetened beverages in Cook County in 2017.

In the Democratic primary the following year, Boykin received hundreds of thousands in anti-pop-tax money. He was opposed by newcomer Brandon Johnson, who received hundreds of thousands of dollars from labor unions and a public endorsement from Preckwinkle.

Boykin lost to Johnson by a few hundred votes.

Preckwinkle was elected as County Board President in 2010, defeating incumbent Todd Stroger in the Democratic primary. Todd Stroger, in turn, was elected in 2006 after his father, John H. Stroger Jr., suffered a stroke after winning the Democratic primary that year and had to be replaced on the ballot.