Maria Pappas

Maria Pappas has been Cook County Treasurer since 1998.¹ She previously served two terms as a Cook County Commissioner.² She also works as an attorney and has a private therapy practice.³

She advocated for the Cook County Debt Disclosure Ordinance, passed in 2009.² The ordinance requires taxing districts to publicly report their finances, including pension debt.² In 2026, her office reported that local governments sought $743.8 million in new property taxes, with homeowners paying the bulk of the hike.⁴ A study from her office found that Cook County property taxes doubled the rate of inflation over the past 30 years.⁴ She supported property tax reforms that were signed into law in 2026.⁴ The reforms phase out county tax-lien sales to help homeowners catch up with property taxes before losing their homes.⁴ The Cook County Democratic Party states her 'Black and Latino Houses Matter' initiative returned more than $120 million to owners in minority communities through refunds and exemptions.⁵

Her campaign says that when she took office, she found $30 million in uncashed checks and moved to modernize operations with technology.⁶ The Cook County Democratic Party states she reduced staff from 250 to 58 employees and increased interest earnings on deposits from $4.8 million to nearly $18 million in her first year.⁵