James Houlihan
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
Political 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 of Chicago on the far southwest side of Chicago.[3]

Career

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

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

He served as a top aide to Chicago mayor Harold Washington.[3][4] He then became a deputy assessor in Thomas Hynes' Cook County assessor office[3]

Cook County Assessor

In March 1997, Thomas Hynes resigned from office after serving for 18 years as Cook County assessor. Houlihan was appointed by the Cook County Board of Commissioners to fill the office. Houlihan's appointment was championed by Hynes himself.[3][5] Houlihan would be reelected in 1998, 2002, and 2006. He opted not run for reelection in 2010.[6]

At the time he took office, residential properties were undervalued.[5] Rather than remedying this, which would have led to higher taxes for many, and would be unpopular, he kept the rates artificially low, and even began to lower the rates for commercial and industrial properties.[5] Houlihan so skewed residential values to artificially low values, that it uncalibrated the county's property tax system so severely that it may have been in violation of the Constitution of Illinois.[5]

Houlihan, over his tenure, defied legal requirements and operated outside of professional standards.[5]

During his tenure as assessor, Houlihan held a rivalry with Cook County Board of Review member Joseph Berrios.[3] In 2006, behind-the-scenes, Houlihan gave his support to Brendan Houlihan (of no relation) in his effort to unseat Maureen Murphy in the Cook County Board of Review 1st district, which was successful. Murphy had been an ally on the board of Joseph Berrios.[3]

In 2007, Houlihan spoke out against Michael Madigan's plan to cap property tax assessments, arguing that, compared to the stalled legislation supported by Houlihan, Madigan's legislation would save Chicago Loop skyscraper owners who were represented by Madigan's own law firm hundreds of thousands of dollars than they would owe under Houlihan's plan.[7]

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

In 2010, Houlihan said that he was considering running for mayor of Chicago in 2011.[1][2][9] He ultimately did not run.

Later career

After leaving office, Houlihan went on to become a state lobbyist.[5]

Houlihan 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 (October 2, 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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