Tribune slams Joan Murphy and Deborah Sims but endorsed Liz Gorman for the Cook County Board

Tribune slams Joan Patricia Murphy and Deborah Sims, but endorsed Liz Gorman for the Cook County Board

5th District (South Side, south suburbs): Incumbent Deborah Sims has a disastrous pro-tax, anti-jobs agenda, but Democrats in her economically distressed district renominated her over a far superior candidate. Her opponent on the Republican ticket is Miriam Shabo. No endorsement.

6th District (south suburbs): Time and again, incumbent Democrat Joan Patricia Murphy has cast votes that punished taxpayers and employers in her district. We've noted before that Murphy is fiercely dedicated to three things: obeying Stroger, kowtowing to big labor and raising taxes: In 2009, Murphy, like Sims, even voted against a sales tax rollback that she had co-sponsored. Republicans offer a much better option in small-businesswoman Sandra Czyznikiewicz, whose reform votes on the board could begin to undo the damage Murphy has wrought on her constituents. The Tribune endorses Czyznikiewicz, who wants to immediately repeal the remaining half of the Stroger sales tax increase — and who is determined to cut the county's bloated spending.

17th District (southwest, west and northwest suburbs): We could fill the page detailing the to-and-fro in this hard-fought race. WFLD-TV outed Democrat challenger Patrick Maher for not coming clean in candidate questionnaires about his arrest for severely beating a fellow student in his days at Illinois State University. GOP incumbent Elizabeth Doody Gorman faces questions — but not charges — about a transfer of money claimed by Chrysler Financial Services to the Orland Township Republican Organization. We can't begin to adjudicate all of the competing and complex accusations in this race. But we do suggest that voters look past the dispiriting volley to focus on this: Gorman aggressively co-led the fight to roll back Stroger's sales tax hike, and she has a solid record of working to reduce county spending and streamline this government. The Tribune endorses Gorman.