Election 2026: Why Cook County Democrats are ditching Assessor Kaegi

Between the lines: Kaegi won in 2018 as a progressive reformer against the Cook County Democratic Party's preferred candidate, Joe Berrios.

• That's the same political machine that Tom Hynes built.

Flashback: In 2010, the Better Government Association wrote that the county assessor's office had traditionally been "one of the plummest of the plum political jobs — a bastion for patronage and big campaign donations."

• It was those stories, plus a scathing investigative report about Berrios by the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica, that led to Kaegi being elected.

Yes, but: Kaegi's two terms have been rocky. He's fended off criticism that he is responsible for massive residential tax hikes while routinely butting heads with the other property tax offices that are more firmly entrenched with the party.

Zoom in: The election will put the entire Cook County property tax system in the spotlight. Assessments, appeals and payments have been rife with problems since the pandemic.

• Since Kaegi started reassessing properties, taxpayers have complained of being blindsided by the increases. There have also been delays in bills, including the next one.

Reality check: The delays have widely been blamed on hiccups after the county hired a technology partner to help digitize their antiquated systems.

The bottom line: Property taxes are top of mind this year and voters will once again have to choose between the Chicago machine and the reformer with a spotty track record.