1. David Duvall Orr was born on October 4,1944 and is an American Democratic politician who served as the Cook County Clerk from 1990 to 2018.
17 Facts About David Orr
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David Orr briefly served as acting Mayor of Chicago from November 25 to December 2,1987, following the death of Mayor Harold Washington.
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David Orr retired from the office of Cook County Clerk in 2018, opting not to run for an eighth term.
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David Orr was an instructor at Mundelein College in 1979, when he first decided to run for alderman.
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David Orr entered politics as an "independent Democrat", opposed to the official Democratic Party organization.
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In February 1979, David Orr was elected by a narrow margin of 320 votes alderman from the 49th Ward, which covered most of the Rogers Park neighborhood in the far northeastern corner of Chicago.
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David Orr joined with other white "independent" aldermen from the "Lakefront" and black dissident aldermen from the south side and west side in opposing the corruption and racism of the Machine.
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David Orr had a reputation of being a "clean" politician, devoid of corruption or negativity.
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David Orr was suggested as the obvious choice, but as a reformer, he was vehemently opposed by the remaining Machine aldermen, and many black Chicagoans wanted a black replacement for Washington.
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David Orr won easily in the general election, receiving more votes than any other candidate for county office.
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David Orr was re-elected in 1994,1998,2002,2006,2010, and 2014.
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In 1994, David Orr was considered a potential front-runner if he entered the election for president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, but he ultimately decided to run for reelection as clerk instead of seeking the position.
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In 2013, David Orr was appointed as a Senior Fellow at the Harris School of Public Policy Studies in the University of Chicago.
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In June 2018, David Orr founded a political action committee called Good Government Illinois, with the goal of supporting election reform, campaign finance reform, and candidates with shared goals.
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David Orr supported several candidates in the 2019 Chicago aldermanic election, including Maria Hadden, Michael Rodriguez, Andre Vasquez, Matt Martin, Susan Sadlowski Garza, David Moore, and Scott Waguespack.
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David Orr considered running for mayor of Chicago in the 2019 Chicago mayoral election after incumbent mayor Rahm Emanuel declared in early September 2018 that he would no longer be seeking a third term.
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In 2012, David Orr was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame as a Friend of the Community.