John P. Daley

John P. Daley (born December 5, 1946) is an American politician and insurance broker. He is the 11th Ward Democratic Committeeman in Chicago, Illinois, a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners (11th district), and the Chair of the Cook County Board Finance Committee. He has previously served in both the Illinois State Senate and the Illinois House of Representatives, as well as being employed as a school teacher. He is the son of former Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley and brother of former Mayor Richard M. Daley, as well as William M. Daley, former White House Chief of Staff under President Obama and United States Secretary of Commerce under President Bill Clinton. Unlike his brothers, he continues to live in the neighborhood the family was raised in.

Early life and education Daley was born in Mercy Hospital and raised in the Bridgeport neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. He is the second youngest child of former six-term Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley and Eleanor "Sis" Daley.

Personal life When John's wedding to Mary Lou Briatta was announced in the April 24, 1975, edition of the Chicago Tribune, the headline read: "Daley's son to wed hood's daughter" due to his fiancees' father, Louis Briatta, linked to connections with organized crime. The two have three children: John R., Mikey, and Christine.

Daley is currently the only son of the former mayor who still lives in Bridgeport. He assumed the position in 1980 from his brother who left the post to become Cook County's State's Attorney.

John Vitek resigned from the Illinois House of Representatives on September 19, 1985 for health reasons, which made way for Daley's appointment. In the Illinois House of Representatives, Daley served the 21st District.

In 1989, when his brother Mayor-elect Richard Daley named Timothy F. Degnan to his cabinet, John was able to move from the Illinois House of Representatives into Degnan's seat in the Illinois Senate that Degnan had assumed when Richard Daley went on to become Cook County states attorney nine years earlier. In 1991, the Republican Party controlled the decennial redistricting and the Illinois State Senate districts were drawn to place John Daley into an unfavorable majority Black district. In 1991, Charles Bernardini vacated a seat on the Cook County Board. On February 3, 1992, after a few months of political dealings, Daley was voted in as the new 10th Chicago member of the Board by the other nine. Pamela Munizzi was Daley's successors in both moves from Illinois General Assembly posts.

When John Stroger, who was first elected to the Cook County Board of Commissioners in 1970 and who served three terms as President beginning in 1994, suffered a stroke on March 14, 2006, Daley was mentioned as a likely fill-in who could be trusted until Stroger's son, Todd Stroger, could run to replace his father as President and William Beavers could run for his seat in the November 2006 elections. Time described Daley as the second most powerful person on the board at the time. In 2001, U.S. News & World Report felt Daley might rise to the presidency of the board himself on more than an interim basis.

On the Cook County Board, he serves as chairman of the Audit and Finance committees. He is a member of the Health & Hospital, Information Technology & Automation, and Rules & Administration committees.

Insurance career In 1973 when he was 26, Daley first met with controversy involving his insurance career. At that time, the press made an issue of his father's decision to shift some of the city's insurance business to the Evanston, Illinois, insurance firm with which John had business ties.

Daley's business causes him many conflicts of interests in the course of business as a Commissioner on the Cook County Board. He frequently recuses himself or abstains from voting on various matters of business because of his extensive insurance network. Several of his clients do millions of dollars of business with the city and some are active in the city's hired truck program. In addition to his own clients, he is an officer in another insurance company that has no city government business.