The race for the Democratic Cook County State’s Attorney between Eileen O’Neill Burke and Clayton Harris remains too close to call. Lisa Chavarria has more.
Many races in Tuesday's election have been called, though some races and referendums remain outstanding. You can see live election results from the Illinois Primary here.
One day after the Illinois primary election, the race for who will be the Democratic Party's nominee for Cook County State's Attorney remains too close to call.
As of 5 a.m. Wednesday, Eileen O'Neill Burke had a narrow lead over Clayton Harris. With 99% of precincts reporting, they're separated by roughly 9,000 votes.
The Chicago Board of Elections noted that mail-in ballots are continuing to be processed.
"Per Illinois election code, all late-arriving but properly postmarked (by March 19th) vote-by-mail ballots have a two-week period to be counted – and that would bring us to April 2nd," CBOE director of public information Max Bever said.
Bever noted however that the vast majority of vote-by-mail ballots come back on election day or night, and the immediately Wednesday and Thursday following.
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"By the time those are processed and counted into the unofficial results, we may have a much clearer picture by this weekend," Bever said, of the race.
Earlier in the day, Bever noted that Chicago's voter turnout was "shockingly low," saying that only 20% of Chicago's registered voters had turned out to cast ballots.
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The race for which Democrat will appear on the November ticket for Cook County State's Attorney has been a closely watched one, with both O'Neill Burke and Harris looking to replace incumbent Kim Foxx, who is not running for a third term.
Clayton Harris is a law school lecturer at the University of Chicago and a former Cook County state’s attorney. Eileen O’Neill Burke is also a former prosecutor, as well as a criminal defense attorney then an appellate court judge.
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Both approached the Cook County Democratic Party and Board President Toni Preckwinkle for the party backing and her endorsement, which ultimately went to Harris.
Former Ald. Bob Fioretti, who had launched a run for State’s Attorney in 2020, was the lone Republican on the ballot in this year’s election. He will also be joined on the ballot by Andrew Charles Kopinski, who will represent the Libertarian party in November.
