Editorial: Patricia Joan “trish” Murphy For Cook County Board 6th District Democratic Primary

Five Democratic candidates are vying to replace Commissioner Donna Miller, who is running for the congressional seat being vacated by Robin Kelly. Voters have a difficult decision, given a talented field. Attorney Wesam Shahed, a first-generation Palestinian American endorsed by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, has run a well-funded campaign. Veronica Bolling-Franklin is a school board veteran with practical ideas for multiyear forecasting and performance-based budgeting. Antoine Bass has good ideas, too, notably for consolidating duplicative programs and sharing heavy equipment among the district’s municipalities. Also running is child and family advocate Sylvester Fulcher.

This district needs a hands-on doer, and filling the bill is Patricia Joan “Trish” Murphy, daughter of the late Commissioner Joan Murphy. Trish Murphy is a Worth Township supervisor and Democratic committeewoman who pledges to attract businesses and families to an economically challenged part of Cook County. (The district fishhooks from Bridgeview and Justice down the county’s southern border, then back up to Homewood and South Holland). “I have real experience balancing budgets, prioritizing services and delivering improvements without placing undue additional strain on taxpayers,” she says. Shahed is an exciting candidate, but we think Murphy is better prepared to undertake the day-to-day duties of a Cook County Board commissioner.

Murphy is endorsed.

Read all of the Tribune Editorial Board’s endorsements for the 2026 Illinois primary election here. 

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