Promising to "set a new standard for integrity, effectiveness and innovation" and work to restore safety to Chicago and other communities in Cook County, former state appeals court judge Eileen O'Neill Burke declared victory in the race to become Cook County's next chief prosecutor.
According to unofficial vote tallies posted by the Cook County Clerk's office and the Chicago Board of Elections, O'Neill Burke, a Democrat, cruised to a win over Republican candidate Robert Fioretti.
The general election victory was all but a formality in famously Democratic Cook County after O'Neill Burke won a bruising and tense matchup in the Democratic primary election earlier this year over Clayton Harris III, who was supported by Chicago's Democratic Party bosses and the left-wing coalition that backed outgoing controversy-plagued Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx.
Supporters lined up behind O'Neill Burke's campaign, hoping to restore a more traditional approach to prosecuting crime in Chicago and its near suburbs after Foxx's eight years of promoting criminal justice reforms viewed by many as being too favorable towards the rights of criminals at the expense of consideration for crime victims and public safety.
In a speech on Election Night as her victory became apparent, O'Neill Burke noted that on Monday, the day before the election, Chicago Police Officer Enrique Martinez was gunned down during a traffic stop in Chatham.
Police detained two men in connection with the incident. Foxx has announced charges of first degree murder against one man, identified as Darion McMillian, 23, of Harvey. According to police, McMillian was on electronic monitoring and cut off his ankle bracelet while fleeing police after killing Martinez. According to police, McMillian was on electronic home monitoring as he faced charges of attempting to defraud a drug and alcohol screening.
McMillian also killed the driver of the vehicle that Martinez and another officer had stopped, according to police.
In her speech, O'Neill Burke said the incident was a "gut punch" for her and the community. She noted her father and grandfather were both police officers.
"My heart is broken for the Martinez family today, but my spirit is not broken," O'Neill Burke said.
She pledged to use her new role at the top of the Cook County State's Attorney's Office to "make the community safer for everyone."
"We all want to live in a community where we do not have a mass shooting on a regular basis," O'Neill Burke said.
"We all want to live in a community where people and business can thrive when they are unencumbered by fear of being victimized.
"We all want to live in a community where children can go outside and play, regardless of what ZIP code you live in.
"... Being safe is not a privilege. It is a right," O'Neill Burke said.
She vowed to build the Cook County State's Attorney's Office into "the best prosecutor's office in the country," noting the office has a "noble mission: To represent victims, to uphold the law, and to make justice accessible for everyone."
O'Neill Burke retired as an appellate justice in 2023 after 33 years on the bench, to seek election as state's attorney. She indicated from the start a clear intent to undo many of Foxx's policies, both in terms of prosecuting crime and in how she would run the State's Attorney's office.
Foxx was elected in 2016 with the backing of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, as well as with backing from organizations affiliated with billionaire George Soros. Those organizations have made no secret of their desire to install prosecutors nationwide committed to the goals of emptying prisons and allowing many accused criminals to walk free on soft or no charges.
In Cook County, Foxx instituted a host of policies and initiatives that have routinely placed her at odds with police and many in the public, including refusing to prosecute anyone who shoplifts less than $1,000 in merchandise from stores, and lax prosecution efforts against people accused of violent crimes, even those committed with guns.
These policy choices, at best, coincided with a sharp increase in criminal activity in Chicago and many surrounding suburbs on Foxx's watch. Critics say the policy and legal changes backed by Foxx, Preckwinkle and their allies have directly fueled the surge in gang shootings, armed robberies, carjackings, shoplifting and looting of stores, and other crimes.
During the campaign, O'Neill Burke notably pledged to end Foxx's policies on retail theft, and to return to abiding by the felony thresholds set by state law, prosecuting anyone charged with stealing at least $300 of merchandise.
O'Neill Burke 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.
O'Neill Burke also pledged to rebuild staffing levels at the State's Attorney's Office to allow the office to better meet its prosecutorial responsibilities.
O'Neill Burke did directly challenge Foxx, however, as Foxx announced in 2023 she would not seek a third term in office.
Rather than endorse O'Neill Burke, however, Preckwinkle and Democratic leadership in Cook County rallied behind Harris III, a longtime Democratic operative and lobbyist who praised Foxx's performance as state's attorney and said he would continue many of her policies.
O'Neill Burke won a bruising political primary battle, prevailing after 10 days of vote counting that saw Harris' vote totals follow an increasingly familiar pattern, in which left-wing candidates benefit from lopsided vote margins in late arriving mail-in ballots received up to two weeks following Election Day, as allowed by Illinois law.
In a statement following O'Neill Burke's victory, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office under Foxx pledged to work with O'Neill Burke to promote a smooth transition from Foxx to O'Neill Burke's leadership.