Eileen O’Neill Burke, a Democrat and retired appellate choose, defeated a extra liberal candidate in final week’s major election for the job of prime prosecutor in Cook dinner County, Sick., in accordance with The Related Press.
The outcome got here after greater than per week of counting ballots, together with mail-in votes, that weren’t capable of be reported on Election Day.
Justice O’Neill Burke is predicted to succeed Kim Foxx, the state’s legal professional for the county, who arrived in workplace in 2016 promising to alter the felony justice system with a progressive platform. She selected to not search re-election this yr after two phrases.
A victory for Justice O’Neill Burke was broadly seen as a shift away from Ms. Foxx’s method. Her opponent, Clayton Harris III, had Ms. Foxx’s backing.
Within the basic election in November, Justice O’Neill Burke will face a Republican opponent, Bob Fioretti, a former alderman. However Cook dinner County, which incorporates Chicago, is closely Democratic, and the winner of the Democratic major is broadly favored to win the overall election.
Crime is a potent political challenge for voters in Chicago and different cities, the place shootings and homicides spiked through the pandemic however have seen declines up to now two years. Progressive prosecutors, together with Ms. Foxx, have been pilloried for insurance policies that reasonable and conservative voters have seen as too lenient on felony offenders.
George Gascón, the district legal professional in Los Angeles County, faces a tough race for re-election in November. Chesa Boudin, a progressive district legal professional in San Francisco, was ousted by voters in a recall election in 2022. In Nueces County, Texas, the prosecutor, Mark Gonzalez, resigned amid efforts by conservatives to take away him from workplace.
At instances, the marketing campaign in Chicago gave the impression to be a referendum on Ms. Foxx, whose tenure as Cook dinner County’s prime prosecutor introduced promised adjustments to some parts of the felony justice system but in addition attracted heavy criticism.
Main the second-largest prosecutor’s workplace within the nation, Ms. Foxx supported a measure enacted in Illinois final yr that abolished money bail. She drew fireplace for her dealing with of the case towards Jussie Smollett, a tv star who was discovered responsible of falsely reporting to the Chicago police that he had been the sufferer of a racist and homophobic assault in 2019.
Ms. Foxx’s workplace initially dropped the fees towards Mr. Smollett associated to submitting a false police report, saying he was not a risk to public security. However a choose later appointed a particular prosecutor to evaluation the case, and costs had been reinstated.
On the marketing campaign path, Justice O’Neill Burke mentioned that her insurance policies would mark a change from Ms. Foxx’s method, and that she can be more durable on offenders who’re convicted of low degree crimes. Justice O’Neill Burke has vowed to reverse a policy instituted by Ms. Foxx to solely prosecute retail theft as a felony if the worth of the stolen items exceeds $1,000.
“The present state’s legal professional doesn’t imagine in accountability,” Justice O’Neill Burke mentioned at a marketing campaign occasion final week.
Mr. Harris praised Ms. Foxx’s achievements, but in addition mentioned in interviews that he intended to “chart my very own course on this workplace.”
In some ways, the 2 candidates supplied comparable agendas: Mr. Harris and Justice O’Neill Burke mentioned they supported the state’s determination to finish money bail, and each promised to proceed restorative justice measures that Ms. Foxx championed.
Their assist got here from totally different corners of the area’s Democratic Occasion, and a few Republicans. Mr. Harris acquired backing from town’s labor and progressive institution, together with the Chicago Academics Union and Toni Preckwinkle, the chair of the Cook dinner County Democratic Occasion.
Justice O’Neill Burke attracted extra assist and donors from the enterprise group, together with six-figure donations from executives within the finance and restaurant industries.
The 2 candidates have highlighted the distinction of their expertise: Justice O’Neill Burke spent many years as a lawyer and choose, whereas Mr. Harris’s profession has been targeted extra on educating and dealing in authorities.
Within the weeks earlier than the election, voters in Cook dinner County appeared disengaged from the race. In a poll of voters launched earlier this month, near 60 % mentioned they had been undecided. The remainder had been evenly cut up between Mr. Harris and Justice O’Neill Burke.