(MCT) — Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle bypassed a former top aide and endorsed state Sen. Toi Hutchinson in the 2nd Congressional District contest Monday, saying she feared a third candidate — former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson — would win the Democratic nomination.

Preckwinkle acknowledged that she had "thought long and hard and frankly struggled" with the decision not to back Robin Kelly of Matteson, a former state representative who quit her post as Preckwinkle's chief administrative officer to make the run for Congress.