Two Democrats are vying for Cook County State’s Attorney in the upcoming primary election, 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.
Each now hopes to lead the second largest prosecutor’s office in the U.S., and sat for an interview with NBC 5 ahead of the election.
“You could ask any victim, any witness or even any defendant if they think our justice system’s working just fine right now and they will tell you it is not,” O’Neill Burke said.
“Right now, too many people don’t feel safe going downtown. But too many other people don’t feel like the justice system works for that, so we can address that,” said Harris.
Both approached the Cook County Democratic Party and Board President Toni Preckwinkle for the party backing and her endorsement, which ultimately went to Harris.
“I’m lucky enough that I was able to secure that endorsement so I will use that especially when it comes to now resources in the office,” Harris said.
“The party is not a monolith right now,” O’Neill Burke contended, “I have picked up support from all over the county, from aldermen, committeemen and the unions.”
The two candidates are far apart on fundraising – O’Neill Burke has raised more than $2 million while Harris has raised more than $832,000, campaign finance records show.
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As for their vision for the office, they disagree on how shoplifting should be prosecuted, what the threshold is to raise an alleged crime from a misdemeanor to a felony charge.
“The current states attorney has decided not to follow the law and she will not prosecute below a thousand dollars,” said O’Neill Burke. “I took an oath as a judge, I’ll take the same oath as state’s attorney that I will uphold the law, the law is $300 or above.”
“My threshold will be: at a thousand dollars, it is automatically looked at as a felony,” Harris said. “Below a thousand dollars, we will assess it at that point in time, so if there’s a break-in and it becomes a burglary that is a felony.”
But both see gun crimes as a top priority.
“When I come in, you will understand that when we have these crimes committed with guns, that you know that we are holding these individuals accountable appropriately for these crimes,” said Harris.
“We need to enforce the law,” said O’Neill Burke. “The assault weapons ban elevates the class of offense and extends the term of sentence on these cases. We need to enforce the ban by asking for detention and asking for jail time.”
Foxx’s eight years in office were criticized by those who disagreed with the reforms she ushered in and applauded by those who supported the changes.
“We build on the reforms made by the Kim Foxx administration and we move forward,” Harris said. “So this is Clayton Harris III, this is my administration and we’re starting anew right here.”
“If I thought things were going just fine right now, I would have stayed on the appellate court, but things are not working right now, our justice system is not working,” said O’Neill Burke.
While there are two other candidates running for State’s Attorney – Libertarian Andrew Charles Kopinski and Republican Bob Fioretti – in heavily Democratic Cook County, whoever wins the Democratic primary election is widely viewed as the favorite in November.
