Four candidates vying to replace Kim Foxx as Cook County State's Attorney
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Kim Foxx is stepping down from her post as Cook County State's Attorney. Four people are running to replace her: one Republican, one Libertarian, and two Democrats.
The winner of the Democratic primary taking place a week from Tuesday is widely expected to win the seat come November.
The two Democrats vying to replace Kim Foxx atop the second-largest prosecutor's office in the country give the outgoing state's attorney vastly different grades.
"I would have given her a failing grade," said Eileen O'Neill Burke. "I would not have stepped down from appellate court unless I thought we were at a critical juncture right now."
"Some of the things that she's done, especially when we talk about reform, have been nationally replicated, so the nation has taken note of it," said Clayton Harris.
Harris was an Assistant Cook County State's Attorney in the early 2000s. He was chief of staff to Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Now, he teaches policing at the University of Chicago.
Harris has been endorsed by Cook County President Tony Preckwinkle and is considered the more progressive candidate.
CBS 2's Chris Tye pressed him on his support of Foxx, given the morale issues that have left her office significantly understaffed.
"For me to try to ignore that there has been an exodus there, right, would be silly. Yes, there was an exodus there. What the factors are on for everyone leaving, I'm not completely aware of, but I'm not blind to it," he said.
"If people think it's going just fine right now, I'm not their candidate. He is their candidate," said O'Neill Burke.
She is also a former Assistant State's Attorney, a defense lawyer, a former circuit court judge, and now an appeals court judge. She is considered the more moderate candidate.
"A vote for me means we continue to move forward," Harris said. "I believe a vote for my opponent takes us back, back to the 90s."
Harris was speaking about a case from the 90s when O'Neill Burke, then an Assistant State's Attorney in Cook County, prosecuted a Black boy for the murder of an elderly white woman. The boy's confession led to a conviction. That confession was later determined to be coerced by police. O'Neill Burke said that could not have been known as she prosecuted.
"The most he could find was a case where I was never found to do anything wrong 30 years ago," she said. "As a prosecutor, you take the best evidence that you have and you put it front of the trier of fact. The trier of fact then determines whether the state has met their burden. Was that the most perfect case? No. But it was a murder that was unsolved for a year. And then there was a confession, which there were several facts in that case that corroborated that confession."
"I think that with there being a lack of remorse there, I think that judgment matters," said Harris. "I absolutely think that judgment matters. And I believe I'm the one with the better judgment for this office at this time."
"The only time my role in that case has ever been questioned is by Mr. Harris and his allies," said O'Neill Burke. "I will tell you this: Every single judge is evaluated based on honesty, ethics, and integrity. I've been evaluated by dozens of bar associations multiple times, and each and every time, they found that I have those qualities."
She also has a tougher approach to handling retail theft than Harris.
"You can clear out several aisles of a mom and pop grocery store or of a Walgreens before you get to $1,000," she said.
Retail theft under Foxx's administration has only been prosecuted as a felony if the value of the stolen goods is more than $1,000. O'Neill Burke would toughen that up and drop it back to $300.
"Not prosecuting crime doesn't deter crime. It encourages crime,' she said.
Harris would keep it at $1,000 but says it's more complex than that.
"So if it's $300 and this person has done it four times or this is an ongoing thing, we can charge them as a felony because we have that threshold. But if it's a first-time nonviolent, low-level offense, but it's above $300, I don't think that that necessarily warrants a felony on someone's rap sheet for the rest of their life," he said.
They also differ on the SAFE-T Act, which eliminated cash bail in Illinois.
"There are 140 people in Cook County right now that are on electronic monitoring for murder or attempt murder charges. That is significant and should give everyone pause," said O'Neill Burke.
She supports the idea of assessing how dangerous a defendant is versus the question of whether they can pay.
"The narrative was mass murderers are going to be out there," said Harris. "We're going to be so dangerous. And it hasn't shown. The data is actually showing that we're safer with this being implemented because now we're keeping the correct people incarcerated while we wait."
Voters won't have to wait long to weigh in on the two Democrats with vastly different approaches vying for votes. They also have different messages in the home stretch.
"You shouldn't have to leave downtown, the suburbs, or anywhere because you're scared of crime that's going on," said Harris. "We're holding everyone accountable. We're holding everyone accountable because we're not going to falter."
"He hasn't been in a courtroom in 20 years," said O'Neill Burke. "He does not have the track record that I have. Our justice system isn't working right now. We can fix it."
O'Neill Burke has raised $2.1 million to Harris's $858,000.
Bob Fioretti is running unopposed for the job as a Republican. Andrew Charles Kopinski is running as the Libertarian candidate.
So, the race will be back on the ballot in November.