Controversial Cook County Board of Review incumbent faces challenge from parks activist, political operative

Samantha Steele, the Cook County elected official who gained widespread bad publicity for her 2024 arrest for allegedly driving drunk, faces a strong re-election challenger in Tuesday’s Democratic primary.

Steele seeks to fend off a challenge from longtime Democratic operative Liz Nicholson in the Cook County Board of Review’s District 2, which includes much of the North Side and northern suburbs.

The challenge to Steele came after a first term marked by her ongoing DUI case and other disputes with the other two Board of Review commissioners, the county’s inspector general and some of her own former aides.

In 2022, Steele won in the seat with a primary victory over incumbent Michael Cabonargi, who was endorsed by the Cook County Democrats.

The Board of Review is a down-ballot race, but the panel wields enormous power, with the right to effectively reduce the property taxes of everyone from homeowners to the biggest real estate interests in Chicago and the Cook County suburbs.

The current assessor, Fritz Kaegi, recently criticized the Board of Review, alleging that the commissioners have favored business interests over homeowners, who’ve been hit with rising tax bills. But the Board of Review has fired back at Kaegi.

In recent years, the board has played a prominent role in the ongoing saga over the Chicago Bears’ potential move to the former Arlington Park property in the northwest suburbs.

Also facing a potentially formidable challenger in Tuesday’s primary is Steele’s fellow commissioner George Cardenas. He is opposed by longtime Chicago parks activist Juanita Irizarry.

The third member of the board, Larry Rogers Jr., won his sixth term in 2024. All three commissioners are Democrats.

Cardenas has endorsed Steele’s challenger, citing Nicholson's experience in politics and the many controversies that have plagued the incumbent since she joined the board.

Steele, who lives in Evanston, was arrested in November 2024 on the North Side and charged with drunken driving by the Cook County’s state’s attorney’s office. In police body camera video, Steele repeatedly tried to pull rank, telling officers she was a county elected official and refusing to cooperate with the cops who were dispatched because Steele crashed into a parked vehicle on Ashland Avenue.

Despite several requests, Steele would not initially provide officers with her driver’s license or get out of the car, insisting she speak with the man she described as her lawyer — Cook County Commissioner Scott Britton, D-Glenview.

Steele has vowed to fight the charges, and court records show the case is pending.

In the body cam videos, one officer told her, “Ma’am, if you don’t exit the vehicle … I’m going to help you to exit, and you don’t want that.”

“You don’t want that! I’m an elected official,” Steele shot back.

“Elected official of what?” the officer asked.

“Cook County,” Steele told him.

When the officer asked for her name, Steele held out her hand and said, “I’m Sam,” later adding that, “I don’t want to be on the video.”

Last year, the county paid $180,000 to settle a federal whistleblower case brought by a fired Steele aide against the Board of Review, the commissioner and her top aide.

Before that, Steele fired another staffer who had pleaded guilty in federal court and testified in a corruption case against his brother, who was a mayor in northwest Indiana.

Steele also was accused by the county’s inspector general of ethics violations stemming from her role in the property tax assessment dispute involving the Bears and the Arlington Heights site where the NFL team is considering building a new stadium.

Steele’s challenger, Nicholson, sought to capitalize on those controversies. Nicholson was a longtime adviser to former Illinois Senate President John Cullerton.

Cardenas, a former member of the Chicago City Council, also joined the Board of Review four years ago. His challenger, Irizarry, was the leader of Friends of the Parks when the group successfully fought plans to build a “Star Wars” museum on the lakefront.

Irizarry had the support of three members of Congress — Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, Delia Ramirez and Danny Davis. Cardenas was endorsed by the county Democrats and Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside.

Dan Mihalopoulos is a reporter for WBEZ.