Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx has not yet publicly declared whether she will seek a third term in office in 2024, but there’s growing speculation that she could tip her hand during an address at a City Club of Chicago event on Tuesday.
Three sources have told NBC 5 Political Reporter Mary Ann Ahern that Foxx will announce that she is not running for a third term in office, paving the way for a new state's attorney to seek the office next year.
Former Inspector General Joe Ferguson is a prime candidate to potentially run for that office, along with former Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin, who lost his seat to now Chicago mayor-elect Brandon Johnson in 2018, and Dan Kirk, who was first assistant to former State's Attorney Anita Alvarez.
The news of Foxx's decision isn't surprising to many insiders. According to campaign fundraising disclosures, Foxx has raised only $9,000 since 2021, $5,000 of which was donated by Michael Sacks earlier this month. That is the first contribution Foxx has reported from Sacks in nearly a year, as she’s received more than $1 million in funds since 2016.
Foxx’s tenure has been marked with sharp criticism of her office’s handling of criminal charges and the way it seeks bonds, with critics often saying that decisions on home confinement and electronic monitoring have been made incorrectly.
Foxx has faced withering attacks from Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Chicago Police Department over its charging decisions, as well as her office’s handling of high-profile cases involving actor Jussie Smollett and singer R. Kelly, with Foxx announcing that the latter would not be charged with sex abuse in a decision revealed in Jan. 2023.
Lightfoot was especially critical of Foxx’s decision not to press charges in a gang shooting that left one person dead and two others hurt in Oct. 2021, with the two leaders meeting to try to settle their differences.
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“They shoot up a residence in broad daylight, and there’s no consequences,” Lightfoot said. “We have to understand how that is possible, when this kind of shootout is captured on film, that there are no charges of any person.”
The state’s attorney’s personal life has also been in the headlines, as police were called to her Flossmoor home during a domestic dispute involving her husband in June 2022.
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No charges were filed, and the couple asked for privacy in a statement issued after the incident.
Workforce retention within the office has also posed a challenge, with nearly one-third of prosecutors and staff quitting in a 12-month period between 2021 and 2022, according to county officials.
