James Houlihan

James Houlihan
Houlihan, circa 1977
Cook County Assessor
In office
1997 – December 6, 2010
Preceded byThomas Hynes
Succeeded byJoseph Berrios
Illinois State Representative
In office
1973–1979
Serving with
Robert L. Thompson (1973–1975)
Jesse White (1975–1979)
Preceded byJohn B. Brandt/Howard W. Carroll
Succeeded byDaniel P. O'Brien
Personal details
Born1942 or 1943
PartyDemocratic

James Houlihan is an American politician who served as Cook County assessor from 1997 to 2010 and as an Illinois state representative from 1973 to 1979.

Early life

Houlihan was born in 1942 or 1943.[1][2] Houlihan was born and raised in the 19th ward on Chicago's far southwest side.[3]

Career

Houlihan was a protégé of Thomas Hynes, the Cook County assessor and 19th Ward political boss.[3]

In the 1970s, Houlihan served as an independent-minded Illinois state representative from a district on Chicago's northern lakefront. He had ties to prominent lakefront liberals.[3][4] He was elected in 1972 and reelected in 1974, but was defeated in the 1978 Democratic primary.[3]

Houlihan later served as a senior aide to Chicago mayor Harold Washington.[3][4] He subsequently became a deputy assessor in Thomas Hynes's office as Cook County assessor.[3]

Cook County Assessor

In March 1997, Thomas Hynes resigned after 18 years as Cook County assessor. The Cook County Board of Commissioners appointed Houlihan to fill the vacancy, with Hynes supporting the appointment.[3][5] Houlihan was later elected in 1998 and reelected in 2002 and 2006. He did not seek reelection in 2010.[6]

At the time Houlihan took office, residential properties in Cook County were undervalued.[5] Rather than correcting the assessments, a step that would have increased taxes for many homeowners and risked political opposition, his office kept residential assessments artificially low and also began reducing rates for commercial and industrial properties.[5] According to a later investigation by the Chicago Tribune, the resulting distortion of residential values left the county's property tax system severely miscalibrated and may have conflicted with the Constitution of Illinois.[5]

During his tenure, Houlihan's office was reported to have disregarded legal requirements and operated outside professional assessment standards.[5]

Houlihan also had a political rivalry with Cook County Board of Review member Joseph Berrios.[3] In 2006, he privately supported Brendan Houlihan, who was not related to him, in a successful challenge to Maureen Murphy for the 1st district seat on the Cook County Board of Review. Murphy had been an ally of Berrios on the board.[3]

In 2007, Houlihan criticized Michael Madigan's proposal to cap property tax assessments. He argued that, compared with stalled legislation he supported, Madigan's bill would save owners of Chicago Loop skyscrapers represented by Madigan's law firm hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes.[7]

In 2010, Houlihan accused Joseph Berrios and Michael Madigan of withholding information from taxpayers that could affect the November general election.[8]

That same year, Houlihan said he was considering a campaign for mayor of Chicago in the 2011 Chicago mayoral election.[1][2][9] He ultimately did not enter the race.

Later career

After leaving office, Houlihan became a state lobbyist.[5]

He also served on the Commission on Chicago Landmarks.[10] His tenure on the commission ended in 2019.[11]

Electoral history

Illinois State Representative

1972
1972 Illinois House of Representatives 13th district Democratic primary[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic James M. Houlihan 61,549 ½ 54.93
Democratic Robert L. Thompson 24,356 21.74
Democratic Ira Colitz 18,184 16.23
Democratic Judith A. Lonnquist 7,959 ½ 7.10
1972 Illinois House of Representatives 13th district election[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic James M. Houlihan 90,286 ½ 42.77
Democratic Robert L. Thompson 44,528 21.10
Republican Paul J. Randolph 43,624 20.67
Republican Hawley H. Sodder 32,641 ½ 15.46
1974
1974 Illinois House of Representatives 13th district Democratic primary[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic James M. Houlihan (incumbent) 41,486 43.41
Democratic Jesse C. White, Jr. 27,100 ½ 28.36
Democratic James Terrence Arvey 25,355 26.53
Democratic Marshall James Pidgeon 1,625 1.70
1974 Illinois House of Representatives 13th district election[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic James M. Houlihan (incumbent) 53,844 41.41
Democratic Jesse C. White, Jr. 34,851 26.80
Republican Paul J. Randolph 22,702 ½ 17.46
Republican Tom McNamara 18,625 14.33
1978
1978 Illinois House of Representatives 13th district Democratic primary[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jesse C. White, Jr. (incumbent) 27,612 35.01
Democratic Daniel P. O'Brien 25,291 32.07
Democratic James M. Houlihan (incumbent) 20,112 25.50
Democratic Gary Nepon 5,859 7.43
Total votes 78,874 100

Cook County Assessor

1998
1998 Cook County Assessor Democratic primary[15]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic James M. Houlihan (incumbent) 330,292 100
Total votes 330,292 100
1998 Cook County Assessor election[16]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic James M. Houlihan (incumbent) 926,646 75.58
Republican Jose Carlos Gomez 260,245 21.23
Justice Party Philip Morris 39,111 3.19
Total votes 1,226,002 100
2002
2002 Cook County Assessor Democratic primary[17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic James Houlihan (incumbent) 534,407 100
Total votes 534,407 100
2002 Cook County Assessor election[18][19]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic James Houlihan (incumbent) 954,774 75.78
Republican James P. Pieczonka 305,176 24.22
Total votes 1,259,950 100
2006
2006 Cook County Assessor Democratic primary[20][21]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic James Houlihan (incumbent) 492,077 100
Total votes 492,077 100
2006 Cook County Assessor election[22]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic James Houlihan (incumbent) 1,010,400 80.41
Republican Ralph Conner 246,186 19.59
Total votes 1,256,586 100

References

  1. 1 2 Felsenthal, Carol (23 April 2010). "James Houlihan interested in run for mayor". Chicago magazine.
  2. 1 2 Felsenthal, Carol (24 September 2010). "Jim Houlihan Won't Run for Mayor | Chicago magazine | Felsenthal Files September 2010". Chicago magazine.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Stewart, Russ (3 June 2009). "2010 'BATTLE OF TITANS': HOULIHAN V. BERRIOS FOR ASSESOR". russstewart.com. Russ Stewart.
  4. 1 2 McCarron, John (6 December 1999). "HOULIHAN HITS THE HIGH ROAD". Chicago Tribune.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Grotto, Jason (10 June 2017). "AN ERA OF ERRORS". Chicago Tribune.
  6. ↑ Dardick, Hal (6 September 2009). "Cook County Assessor James Houlihan Not Seeking Re-election". HuffPost.
  7. ↑ McKinney, Dave (6 August 2007). "Assessor slams Madigan tax plan". Chicago Sun-Times.
  8. ↑ "Battle brewing over Cook Co property taxes". ABC7. WLS-TV. 1 April 2010.
  9. ↑ Felsenthal, Carol (7 September 2010). "Mayor Daley Won't Seek Re-election; Jim Houlihan Wants the Job | Chicago magazine | Felsenthal Files September 2010". www.chicagomag.com.
  10. ↑ Cahill, Joe (11 September 2013). "Why the preservationists got it all wrong at the former IBM Building". Crain's Chicago Business.
  11. ↑ @BlairKamin (2 October 2019). "3 members of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks are leaving the panel to make way for @chicagosmayor 's appointees, city officials say. The departing members are former Cook County Assessor James M. Houlihan; Chicago architect Juan Gabriel Moreno; + restaurateur Carmen Rossi" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. 1 2 "OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 7, 1972 JUDICIAL PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, MARCH, 21, 1972" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  13. 1 2 "OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 5, 1974 JUDICIAL PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, MARCH, 19, 1974" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  14. ↑ "OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL PRIMARY ELECTION MARCH 21, 1978" (PDF). elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  15. ↑ "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS PRIMARY ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 1998" (PDF). cookcountyclerkil.com. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  16. ↑ "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1998" (PDF). results.cookcountyclerkil.gov.
  17. ↑ "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS PRIMARY ELECTION TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 2002 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY" (PDF). Cook County, Illinois. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  18. ↑ "TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE RETURNS AND PROCLAMATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE CANVASS OF THE ELECTION RETURNS FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION HELD IN EACH OF THE PRECINCTS IN ALL THE WARDS IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2002 A.D." (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  19. ↑ "SUBURBAN COOK COUNTY RESULTS". voterinfonet.com. Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original on 9 February 2005.
  20. ↑ "2006 Primary Election March 21, 2006 Summary Report Suburban Cook County" (PDF). Cook County Clerk's Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  21. ↑ "TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE RETURNS AND PROCLAMATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE CANVASS OF THE ELECTION RETURNS FOR THE GENERAL PRIMARY ELECTION HELD IN EACH OF THE PRECINCTS IN ALL THE WARDS IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO ON TUESDAY MARCH 21, 2006 A.D." (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  22. ↑ "Cook County and the City of Chicago Combined Summary Report November 2006 General Election Tuesday, November 7th, 2006" (PDF). Cook County Clerk's Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
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