As Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx prepares to step aside after her term, the battle to replace her is heating up.
That race features former Appellate Court Justice Eileen O’Neill Burke, who is running against former Chicago Ald. Bob Fioretti in the November general election.
In a primary that had more than 527,000 votes cast, O’Neill Burke edged out Clayton Harris by fewer than 2,000 votes, setting the stage for a November showdown with Fioretti.
During a sitdown interview with NBC Chicago Political Reporter Mary Ann Ahern, O’Neill Burke addressed the controversial SAFE-T Act, which Fioretti has been critical of throughout the campaign. The measure banned cash bail in the state of Illinois, instead requiring prosecutors to prove that defendants pose a danger to the public or to specific individuals if they are released before they go to trial.
O’Neill Burke said that she will aggressively seek to detain defendants for violent crimes in an effort to keep the public safe.
“The law allows us to ask for detention when someone presents a threat to the public,” she said. ‘We will seek detention on every single crime involving an assault weapon. We will seek detention anytime someone uses a gun in a forcible felony. We will seek detention any time someone commits a violent offense that is a felony.”
Fioretti represented the second ward in the Chicago City Council for two terms, opting not to seek reelection after the Census redrew the district map in the city. Since he was in office, he ran for mayor twice, and also ran for Cook County Board President and State’s Attorney before switching to the Republican Party prior to the 2022 election.
Fioretti said the current Foxx administration has not lived up to its responsibilities to support police in Chicago and its suburbs, and that coupling that approach with a harder stance on violent crime will yield results.
“I’m going to back our police. I’m going to ask many of those who have left the office to come back,” he said. “I plan on looking at some (city) areas, primarily where burglary is, because it’s a habitual crime.”
Both candidates spoke to Ahern about the outflow of prosecutors from the state’s attorney’s office.
“We need hard-charging, ethical, fair prosecutors,” Fioretti said.
“We have vacancies all over the office. Where we’re seeing most vacancies is in the felony trial division, and that is a tragedy that we have to correct,” O’Neill Burke added.
The two candidates do not have any debates scheduled. Libertarian candidate Andrew Kopinski will also be on the Nov. 5 ballot, with early voting beginning for Chicago residents on Thursday. Early voting for residents in suburban Cook County will open on Oct. 9.