If you missed the Tuesday night/Wednesday morning fireworks when Tony Peraica led a crowd of angry party-goers to the Cook County Building to demand that the votes be counted in his race, you should definitely check out these Pioneer Press videos:

Follow Republican candidate for Cook County board president Tony Peraica on election day, from a final push for votes to a march on the County Administration Building.

* Part 1
* Part 2

Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown has some good anecdotes about the evening. Brown was a Peraica supporter, but he was clearly shocked at the candidate’s election night antics.

While Peraica had every right to be angry about the performance of the clerk’s office and the right to be present with a competent team to oversee the returns and demand answers, there was no need for the over-the-top hysteria that nearly created a mini-riot. You don’t call out a group of people who have been drinking for hours to help you solve a problem unless you’re spoiling for a fight.

It was a foolish, ill-advised performance on Peraica’s part, one that left more than a few people who voted for him feeling less disappointed by his loss.

I’m on record here as not being a big fan of new Cook County Board President-elect Todd Stroger, but we certainly benefitted that night from his laid-back style.

Peraica ended up losing the race by about a hundred thousand votes, which is much better than the 470,000 votes that Judy Baar Topinka lost it by, but it wasn’t close enough to claim that vote fraud was responsible.

There was a consolation prize, however narrow the margin.

Peraica… appeared to be hanging on to his County Board commissioner’s seat representing the western suburbs.

Peraica’s loss, or, rather, the sight of the Chicago machine hauling first John and then Todd Stroger across the finish line undoubtedly contributed to the decision by Congressmen Jesse Jackson, Jr. and Luis Gutierrez not to run for mayor next year, no matter what they say. If the machine can nominate a stroke victim and elect his not exactly over-qualified son, then doze guys can do just about anything… Except evade the feds.

A federal grand jury is demanding records from City Hall regarding injury claims of city workers, a move that comes two weeks after the Sun-Times reported Chicago patronage workers claim to be hurt at a rate that exceeds the nation’s most dangerous jobs.