Cook County Board
Casting himself as a "reformer", Claypool made a run for the Cook County Board in 2002. Waging a fierce campaign in which he attacked what he saw as patronage and a bloated bureaucracy in the county government, Claypool went on to upset incumbent Commissioner Ted Lechowicz 51–49% in the March 19 Democratic primary. (Lechowicz was a strong supporter of Cook County Board President John Stroger, Jr.) Because Claypool's district (the 12th) is overwhelmingly Democratic, he faced only nominal opposition in the general election.
Claypool quickly allied himself with fellow freshmen Commissioners Larry Suffredin (D) and Tony Peraica (R). The three were joined by sophomore Commissioner Mike Quigley (D). When, in December 2003, the four reformers garnered enough swing votes to defeat Stroger's FY 2004 budget (the first time such a thing had happened to a Cook County Board President in three decades), Stroger gave Claypool a backhanded compliment, saying, "The media has prevailed, along with Mr. Claypool." This quote ran under the banner headline, "Hell Freezes Over: Cook County Board rejects Stroger's budget" in the Chicago Sun-Times. The following year (FY 2005), the County Board rejected Stroger's tax increases again.
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