DOWNTOWN — Clerk of Cook County Circuit Court Dorothy Brown, who has held the office for 16 years, held on to her job Tuesday despite being reportedly under federal investigation for alleged corruption.
Brown defeated opponents Ald. Michelle Harris (8th) and attorney Jacob Meister with 49 percent of the vote two-thirds of the ballots counted.
Brown ran unsuccessfully for Cook County Board president six years ago, but has survived as the overseer of Circuit Court records.
This time, however, she faced a pair of formidable challengers in Harris and attorney and civil-rights activist Meister.
Brown has repeatedly resisted upgrading her office to allow better online access to court records, claiming legal restrictions, even as private firms routinely copy suits filed in the Circuit Court and sell them online at a profit.
Despite criticisms, her supporters celebrated her win in style Tuesday.
Dorothy Brown cupcake shrine greets people at the end of the food line pic.twitter.com/RYQj7O63fS
— Mitchell Armentrout (@mitchtrout) March 16, 2016
No shortage of jewelry to be bought here at Dorothy Brown's party pic.twitter.com/AZOO2oydDF
— Mitchell Armentrout (@mitchtrout) March 16, 2016
In a break likely too late to influence the election, a former employee of hers reportedly agreed to plea guilty to federal corruption charges Tuesday on allegations he loaned $15,000 to a company run by Brown's husband in a bid to be rehired in her office.
Harris, meanwhile, has presided over the City Council's Rules Committee, which has been called "where good legislation goes to die." It's where proposals problematic to the reigning mayoral administration routinely get sent to await committee hearings that are never called.
Meister is an attorney who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate six years ago and has specialized in LGBT issues.
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