Incumbent Toni Preckwinkle held a commanding lead over Libertarian Michael Murphy in the Cook County Board president race after polls closed Nov. 3, according to unofficial returns.

In suburban Cook County, Preckwinkle received 498,427 votes and Murphy received 163,897, with all 1,430 suburban precincts reporting, according to the Cook County Clerk's election night results page. Turnout in suburban Cook County was 42.20%, with 738,851 ballots cast out of 1,750,625 registered voters. Those figures cover suburban Cook County only and remain unofficial.

Chicago-specific vote totals for the race were not available in extractable form from the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners' website at research time. The Chicago board said results were available through downloadable files. Without verified Chicago figures, a combined countywide total cannot be independently confirmed here.

The Daily Line reported that Preckwinkle defeated Murphy with more than 74 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results, and declared her the winner of a fifth term. No Associated Press or network decision-desk race call appeared in available sources.

These results are not final. The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners said vote-by-mail ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 and provisional ballots will continue to be processed through Nov. 17. The proclamation of official results is scheduled for Nov. 24, according to the Chicago elections board.

What the office means for Evanston

The board president serves as chief executive of the nation's second-most-populous county. The office oversees more than 22,000 employees, the county's public health and hospital system, criminal justice system, roughly 70,000 acres of forest preserves and 600 miles of roads, according to CBS News Chicago and South Side Weekly. The president also chairs meetings of the 17-member Cook County Board of Commissioners and can cast a tiebreaking vote. The office controls an annual budget of approximately $10 billion, according to CBS News Chicago.

The county's health system has drawn particular attention this election cycle. The county faces as much as $400 million in projected losses as residents lose health coverage due to new federal Medicaid work requirements, more frequent eligibility checks and reduced subsidies on marketplace insurance plans, South Side Weekly reported in March.

The candidates

Preckwinkle, 79, has held the office since 2010. She is the longest-serving board president, according to the Chicago Tribune. Before taking the post, she spent nearly 20 years as a Chicago alderperson representing the 4th Ward and worked as a high school history teacher for a decade, according to CBS News Chicago. She defeated Chicago Ald. Brendan Reilly of the 42nd Ward 69% to 31% in the March Democratic primary, the Tribune reported.

Two candidates appeared on the general election ballot: Preckwinkle and Murphy. No Republican ran. Cook County has not elected a Republican board president since 1966, according to CBS News Chicago.

Murphy, 33, is an information technology professional who lives in Chicago's Austin neighborhood, the Tribune reported. His campaign said he focused on transit reform, housing accessibility and food security, according to Fox 32 Chicago.

Next steps

Unofficial results will continue to be updated as mail-in and provisional ballots are processed. Residents can track suburban Cook County returns at electionnight.cookcountyclerkil.gov and Chicago returns at chicagoelections.gov.