Good News For Republicans In Cook County

The Chicago Sun-Times CST-NWS-Carol04.article">announced on Wednesday that education reformer extraordinaire, Paul Vallas, has decided to leave his position as New Orleans superintendent and return to his suburban Cook County home, register as a Republican, and run for Cook County Board President. As the article mentions, Cook County hasn’t elected a Republican President since 1960, so Mr. Vallas has his work cut out for him. But he’s also got a great track record as a public administrator, sufficient campaign experience (he almost beat Rod Blagojevich in the Democratic primary back in 2002), and a compelling personal story (he’s a hard-working son of Greek immigrants). The fact that he would recognize how badly bloated and broken Cook County government has become and decide that the Republican Party can take up the mantle of government reform is a good sign for the local Republican party, the state party, and maybe a sign of things to come for the national party as well.