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On Friday, the Sun-Times endorsed Toni Preckwinkle for Cook County Board president, liking her message of reform and promise to repeal the county's sales tax increase.

But if the county is be transformed from a patronage-heavy monstrosity, Preckwinkle will need a board that also seeks reform.

Here are our endorsements for contested Cook County Board seats:

1st District (West Side, west suburbs): Ronald Lawless of the Green Party is an impressive candidate with a long list of civic accomplishments who would bring fresh ideas and energy to the board. Incumbent Democrat Earlean Collins, after a controversial "present" vote last year that killed an effort to repeal the disastrous county penny-on-the-dollar sales tax increase, said, "You want to vote me out of office- Hooray. I would just love to go home for once in my life and relax."

We're happy to accommodate her. We endorse Lawless.

2nd District (Near North, West and Near South sides): We don't like the way Democrat Robert B. Steele, a former $66,000-a-year community outreach manager for the Chicago Park District, was quietly awarded his mother's board seat four years ago, circumventing the voters. But after backing the sales tax increase, Steele later voted to repeal half of the increase, drawing the ire of outgoing County Board President Todd Stroger. We endorse Steele with the hope that this flash of independence is a sign of future support for Preckwinkle's reform efforts. Michael Smith, a former CHA police sergeant, is the Green Party candidate.

3rd District (Near South Side): In the past, Jerry "Iceman" Butler has seemed unwilling to recognize the need for major reforms, and he voted for the sales tax increase, but the Democrat was an early backer of Preckwinkle's candidacy and we're hopeful he will support her. He is endorsed over the Green Party's Marie J. "Jenny" Wohadlo.

4th District (South Side): Democrat William M. Beavers engineered the cynical 2006 nomination of Stroger for County Board president, ushering in four years of scandal, waste and lost opportunities. Joseph A. Barton is the slated Green candidate but has not been in contact with party leaders during the fall campaign. No endorsement.

5th District (South Side, south suburbs): In 2006, we noted that Democrat Deborah Sims had "clearly taken sides against commissioners who are pushing for reform." Since then, Sims has been a reliable Stroger supporter and, in a surprise flip-flop, cast the deciding vote that upheld the controversial sales tax increase. We endorse Republican Miriam Shabo, a Catholic school system administrator from Homewood with a long record of civic service.

6th District (south, southwest suburbs): "Democrat Joan Patricia Murphy," we wrote four years ago, "has done little to distinguish herself and doesn't appear ready for reform." Nothing has changed. GOP businesswoman Sandra K. Czyznikiewicz gets our nod.

7th District (Cicero, Southwest Side): Former alderman and state senator Jesus G. Garcia, a Democrat, ousted a Stroger loyalist in the February primary. He is endorsed over Green Party candidate Paloma Andrade.

9th District (Northwest Side, northwest, west suburbs): Incumbent Peter N. Silvestri, a Republican and village president of Elmwood Park, is a strong advocate for change. He is endorsed over Democrat Cary Caparelli and Green Party candidate Brock Merck.

10th District (North Side): Democrat Bridget Gainer has bona fide reform credentials. Last year, she helped lead an effort to shoot down video gambling in Cook County and proposed stricter ethics guidelines. She is endorsed over Republican Wes Fowler.

11th District (Southwest Side, southwest suburbs): Incumbent Democrat John P. Daley supported the sales tax increase, but later admitted he had made a mistake. He is experienced and knowledgeable about county finances. He gets our support over Republican Carl Segvich, a political consultant who has run against Daley twice before.

12th District (North Side): We didn't agree with state Rep. John A. Fritchey's call to bring in the National Guard to help fight city crime, but he has bucked Democratic Party regulars at times and pushed for change. An early critic of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, he is endorsed over Republican William C. "Bill" Miceli.

13th District (north suburbs, Far North Side): Democrat and Stroger critic Larry Suffredin disappointed many of his supporters by providing the key vote for the sales tax increase, but he did so only in return for a much-needed independent hospital board. If re-elected, he would work to repeal the sales tax increase and to separate the forest preserve board from the County Board. He is endorsed over two-term Evanston Township Republican Committeeman Linda Thomson LaFianza and Green Party candidate George E. Milkowski, a retired teacher.

14th District (north and northwest suburbs): Former state representative Gregg Goslin, a Republican, is an able incumbent who voted against the tax increase and deserves to be returned to office, where he would push for a two-tier pension system and overturning the tax increase. He is endorsed over Democrat Jennifer Bishop Jenkins, a former high school teacher and victims' rights activist.

15th District (northwest suburbs): Hanover Township Democratic Committeeman Jim Steven Dasakis is a strong candidate who lost to Republican Timothy O. Schneider four years ago. But Dasakis, who campaigned on a promise to "eliminate do-nothing jobs" and "enforce quality hiring," subsequently was hired in 2007 by Stroger for a job that had been vacant for four years. Small-business owner Schneider helped to lead the fight against the sales tax increase, opposed placing red-light cameras in municipalities without their consent and wrote the legislation that cut campaign contribution limits for companies that do business with Cook County government. He would make repealing the sales tax increase his top priority. The Green Party candidate is Laura Ehorn.

16th District (west suburbs): In this hotly contested battle, Tony Peraica, a Republican incumbent, is being challenged by McCook Mayor Jeffrey R. Tobolski, a Democrat. Tobolski acknowledges that Peraica has been a voice for reform but argues that the quirky Peraica has been unable to build the coalitions necessary to support change. Other commissioners, for example, briefly considered a social-media ban at meetings because of Peraica's incessant use of Twitter. But there's no denying Peraica raises important issues and is a voice the County Board needs, even if his "facts" aren't always reliable. If re-elected, he would push to privatize many functions of the county Highway Department, consolidate the county treasurer, recorder and assessor offices and work for pension reform. The Green Party candidate is Alejandro Reyes.

17th District (northwest, west, southwest suburbs): The race between Republican incumbent Elizabeth "Liz" Doody Gorman and Democrat Patrick Maher has been marked with allegations of impropriety. Maher has admitted that, before the February primary, a questionnaire he returned to the SouthtownStar inaccurately omitted any reference to a 1991 felony charge, when he was in college, for beating another student (he wound up pleading guilty to a misdemeanor) and that his birthday was one day off in more than one questionnaire, which critics interpret as an effort to hide his background. But Maher corrected that information before a story about it broke a month and a half ago.

Gorman, who has been on the board since 2002, has been less forthright. After unseating her predecessor partly by criticizing him for taking advantage of an unaudited county "contingency fund" of $15,000 a year, Gorman herself has used that fund, including to help pay for a master's degree at Notre Dame University. She, her husband and business partner Ed Vrdolyak also have drawn the ire of a U.S. magistrate in a seven-year legal battle over their former car dealerships. The magistrate wrote, "The Gormans' conduct from the inception of this litigation has been questionable and underhanded." Maher, owner of PM Appraisals and an effective president of the Orland Park Fire Protection District since 2006, gets our support over Gorman and Matthew J. Ogean, the Green Party candidate.