For the first time since 2016, voters in Cook County will have a chance to select someone different to serve as the chief prosecutor in the city of Chicago and other areas of the county in which crime has surged, particularly since 2020.
Last year, current Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx announced she would not seek reelection. Since her election eight years ago, Foxx has stood as a lightning rod for controversy, whose prosecutorial decisions and policies have helped fuel her national and local reputation for being soft on crime and often promoting the interests of those accused of crime over those of the community the state's attorney is tasked with helping to protect. Critics have asserted Foxx's policies have helped to fuel a historic surge in violent crime and other illegal acts, primarily in Chicago.
This year, two candidates have emerged to replace Foxx, former Appellate Court Justice Eileen O'Neill Burke and former prosecutor and longtime political consultant, staffer and lobbyist Clayton Harris III. They are opposing each other in the Cook County Democratic primary election, and each offers strongly differing views on Foxx and their approaches to addressing crime in the city and surrounding communities.
Early voting has begun in the contest. Election Day is March 19.
Clayton Harris III
On one side, former prosecutor and longtime Democratic Party consultant and staffer Clayton Harris III has attracted the backing of the same party bosses and left-wing groups who backed Foxx in both 2016 and 2020.
Harris has a long history in Chicago and Illinois government. From 1999-2003, Harris worked as an assistant Cook County State's Attorney. That was followed with years of service for former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley; for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was convicted and jailed on public corruption charges; and former Gov. Pat Quinn. Harris served as chief of staff for the Illinois Department of Transportation, beginning in 2006.
Harris has served, among other roles, as executive director for the Illinois International Port District at the Port of Chicago and most recently, as a lobbyist for ridesharing company, Lyft, representing the company's interests in Springfield.
In campaigning, Harris has expressed his admiration for Foxx's work as state's attorney and his intent to continue many of the policies she has instituted and to champion the same "social justice" goals she promoted.
Foxx, her political mentor, Preckwinkle, and their allies were instrumental in enacting much of the criminal justice reforms and policies that, at best, has coincided with a stunning increase in criminal activity in Chicago and many suburbs under Foxx's watch. Critics say the policy and legal changes backed by Foxx, Preckwinkle and others in the name of anti-racism have directly fueled the surge in crime.
Preckwinkle has served as Harris' most prominent political supporter in the contest, delivering the official endorsement of the Cook County Democratic Party.
That party for decades was under the control of former Ald. Ed Burke before his conviction on charges of political corruption and extortion.
O'Neill Burke is not related to Ed Burke.
Preckwinkle has blamed the crime surge on Chicago Police, saying their "ineffectiveness" has hampered Foxx's ability to prosecute crimes.
For his part, Harris has publicly praised Foxx, assigning to her a grade of "A" when asked about Foxx's job performance by The Windy City Times, Chicago's LGBTQ news publication. He also has said he would welcome her endorsement in the contest.
Harris has asserted he would chart his own course as Cook County State's Attorney.
But he has also said he would continue many of Foxx's policies, including her decision to not prosecute retail thieves who steal less then $1,000 in merchandise from stores. That policy shift towards lax enforcement has been linked to a sharp rise in retail burglaries that have plagued Chicago retailers of all types.
Foxx has focused heavily on reducing the jail population and addressing "wrongful convictions," often setting the stage for lawsuits against Chicago police officers and the city, which continue to cost taxpayers millions of dollars every year.
That expectation is further reflected in campaign donations to Harris from lawyers who have heavily focused their practice on suing Chicago police and the city over alleged wrongful convictions and police mistreatment.
And Harris has been publicly endorsed by Ben Crump, a celebrity Florida lawyer with ties to Chicago, who has asserted that crime in America would end immediately if the country redefined crime to exclude "black culture."
Crump has partnered with prominent Chicago plaintiffs' lawyer Tony Romanucci on high profile lawsuits against police, including over the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
After receiving Crump's endorsement, Harris posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter: "How humbling to have the support of (Crump), a modern-day civil rights hero and champion."
Eileen O'Neill Burke
On the other side, Justice O'Neill-Burke said she stepped down from the appellate court to enter the race because she believed the criminal justice system had broken down under Foxx and must be repaired.
O'Neill Burke has served three decades in Chicago's courts. For a decade, O'Neill Burke served as an assistant Cook County State's Attorney. Then, she switched sides, working as a criminal defense attorney.
For the past 16 years, O'Neill Burke has served as a judge. In 2008, she was elected as a Democrat to the Cook County Circuit Court, where she handled complex civil court litigation.
Eight years later, she was elected to the Illinois First District Appellate Court in Chicago.
She retired from that position in 2023 to begin her campaign for Cook County State's Attorney.
In her campaign materials and statements, O'Neill Burke has touted her support for core Democratic Party policy positions, notably including full advocacy for abortion rights and support of labor unions.
She has indicated she would set up a special unit within the Cook County State's Attorney's Office dedicated to protecting abortion providers and women seeking abortions.
O'Neill Burke has also pledged support for a host of "social justice" issues, including advocating for government policies, programs and social services to address "root causes" of crime and establish "restorative justice" programs.
On her campaign website, she asserts she would follow the lead of other jurisdictions, including Washington, D.C., and DuPage County, to establish "mental health courts" to "get people off the streets who suffer from mental health issues," and "drug court" to address substance abuse.
She calls such approaches a "smarter way to promote safety and justice."
However, O'Neill Burke has publicly rebuked Foxx and her supporters, saying she would not seek Foxx's endorsement.
She has publicly stated that she believes that the key to reducing crime is to enforce the law.
O'Neill Burke has notably pledged to end Foxx's policies on retail theft, and return to abiding by the felony thresholds set by state law, prosecuting anyone charged with stealing at least $300 of merchandise.
O'Neill Burke has also pledged to aggressively prosecute criminals charged with crimes involving guns, particularly criminals using weapons enhanced by so-called "bump stocks," which can give semi-automatic weapons greater firing speed capabilities, akin to fully automatic weapons, as well as those using handguns equipped with extended ammunition magazines.
Such weapons have been repeatedly brandished in carjackings, armed robberies and other criminal acts in Chicago, as well as in videos posted by gang members and others from Chicago, celebrating their weapons' capabilities.
O'Neill Burke has indicated she would work within the new standards set within Illinois' landmark criminal justice reform law, known as the SAFE-T Act, to petition judges to keep violent offenders locked up pending trial.
Foxx has repeatedly come under criticism from those who believe she has not done enough to ensure such offenders are detained in jail while they await trial or to prosecute them later.
An analysis conducted by the Chicago Tribune in 2020 showed that Foxx had dropped charges against more than 25,000 people charged with felonies in her first three years in office alone, representing 30% of all those charged with felonies in that time. That analysis showed she dropped charges in 8% of cases involving people charged with murder or aggravated battery with a gun.
Foxx famously stated in 2021 that her office declined to prosecute five gang members involved in a shootout because they were "mutual combatants."
On her campaign website, O'Neill Burke has pledged: "Nobody who commits a violent offense is going back into the community to reoffend."
To accomplish her goals, O'Neill Burke said she would focus first on rebuilding staffing levels at the Cook County State's Attorney's Office. She noted that, under Foxx, staffing levels have hollowed out, leaving the office short staffed and struggling to meet its prosecutorial obligations.
O'Neill Burke has notably drawn strong support from business interests in the city, who have repeatedly warned elected officials in Chicago and Springfield that the sustained surge in crime in recent years - and the lackluster response to it - hampers the ability of businesses to flourish in Chicago's downtown area and elsewhere in the city and the Chicago region.
O'Neill Burke has also secured support from centrist Democrats, including relatives of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. The governor himself has not endorsed either of the candidates, just as he did in the contest for Chicago mayor between Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson.
Johnson, who was backed by the Chicago Teachers Union, won that contest and since taking office has drawn scorn from many in Chicago and throughout the country for his handling of public safety and other issues in the city.
The Chicago Teachers Union has endorsed Harris in the state's attorney race, along with other so-called Democratic Socialists, left-wing activists and other prominent supporters of Mayor Johnson.
Labor organizations have otherwise been sharply divided by the state's attorney race, with prominent labor unions lining up on both sides.
O'Neill Burke has also notably been endorsed in the race by the Chicago Tribune and Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza.