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Cook County State's Attorney election, 2020 (March 17 Democratic primary)
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| 2020 Cook County elections |
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| Election dates |
| Filing deadline: December 2, 2019 |
| Primary election: March 17, 2020 General election: November 3, 2020 |
| Election stats |
| Offices up: Clerk of the circuit court, County state's attorney, County board of review commissioner, County water reclamation district board member, Circuit court judgeships, Subcircuit court judgeships |
| Total seats up: 40 |
| Election type: Partisan |
| Other municipal elections |
| U.S. municipal elections, 2020 |
Incumbent Kim Foxx won the Cook County, Illinois, state's attorney Democratic primary on March 17, 2020. Three other candidates ran: Bill Conway, Bob Fioretti, and Donna More. Foxx received 50.5% of the vote to Conway's 31.1% and More's 13.4%.
The election took place a year following national attention around the case of former Empire actor Jussie Smollett, who filed a police report January 2019 alleging that two men attacked him while making comments about race and sexual orientation. Smollett was later charged with multiple counts related to filing a false police report. Foxx dropped the charges against Smollett in March 2019 in favor of an alternative prosecution program. Foxx's 2020 Democratic primary challengers criticized her handling of the case. Read more about the issue here.
In the 2016 state's attorney election, Foxx defeated incumbent Anita Alvarez (D) in the primary and won the general election with 72% of the vote.
Foxx said her office had made progress reducing violent crime, vacating wrongful convictions, and enacting meaningful criminal justice reforms. Foxx said she "took on the NRA to block the sale of assault weapons and sued Donald Trump on behalf of immigrant families to protect their access to healthcare and housing."
Conway emphasized his background as a Navy veteran and as a prosecutor in the state's attorney's office from 2006 to 2012. He said his platform consisted of "first, balancing our criminal justice reform efforts; second, getting after our gun crime epidemic by really disrupting the supply chain...; third, getting politics out of the state's attorney's office."
Conway and Foxx criticized one another over campaign finances. Conway said Foxx should return donations from a fundraiser Ald. Ed Burke hosted for her in 2016. Foxx criticized Conway's campaign for receiving millions of dollars from his father, whose business she said benefited from global conflicts and military weapons. Read more about candidates' criticisms and responses here.
Cook County also held primary elections for clerk of the circuit court, county board of review commissioner, county water reclamation district board member, circuit court judgeships, and subcircuit court judgeships on March 17, 2020. Click here for more information on these elections.
Candidates and election results
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Cook County State's Attorney
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Kim Foxx | 50.2 | 447,974 |
 | Bill Conway | 31.0 | 276,341 | |
| Donna More | 13.7 | 122,528 | ||
 | Bob Fioretti | 5.0 | 44,794 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 955 | ||
| Total votes: 892,592 | |||
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What was at stake?
WBEZ wrote the following of the Cook County state's attorney election:[1]
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If you care about criminal justice reform, it’s hard to think of a more consequential office than this one. More than 500 people were murdered in Cook County last year, and the state’s attorney’s job is to prosecute those and other crimes. The charging decisions by the prosecutors in the office have a huge impact on incarceration rates in Illinois, given the county’s size. The office also plays a central role in rooting out wrongful convictions. And in a heavily Democratic county like Cook, the Democratic primary in this race will likely be the decisive election.[2] |
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Issues in the race
Smollett case
The election took place a year following national attention around the case of former Empire actor Jussie Smollett, who filed a police report January 29, 2019, alleging that two men attacked him while making comments about race and sexual orientation. The next month, Smollett was charged with several counts of disorderly conduct associated with making a false police report. Foxx dropped the charges against Smollett in March 2019 in favor of alternative prosecution, in which Smollett forfeited a $10,000 bond and completed 16 hours of community service.[3][4]
Foxx's challengers criticized her handling of the Smollett case. In campaign ads, Conway accused Foxx of giving the actor special treatment. Foxx told The Chicago Sun-Times, "The Smollett case was evaluated in the same manner as other cases involving similar events and defendants with similar criminal histories. Due to the public interest, in this case, our office should have taken more care to inform the public about how the case was reviewed and ultimately handled."[5]
Campaign finance criticisms
Foxx criticized Conway by saying he was trying to buy the office, referring to millions of dollars his campaign received from his father. She also criticized his father's business by saying it profited from global conflicts and military weapons. Conway said, "I love my dad, but I’m not him."[6] He also said, "I knew early on that I would need some family support to do this, just because it’s a giant county, (I’m) not a famous person, I’m obviously doing it without any kind of backing of the Cook County machine."[7]
Conway criticized Foxx for keeping money raised at a fundraiser Ald. Ed Burke hosted for her in 2016. Burke was indicted on federal charges, to which he pleaded not guilty, in 2019. Foxx said, "We donated the money that was given to us by Alderman Burke soon after he was indicted. But the other donations to our campaign we vetted to ensure that those campaign contributions were proper."[8]
Endorsements
Click the links below for endorsement lists from candidates' websites.
Campaign advertisements
This section shows advertisements released in this race. Ads released by campaigns and, if applicable, satellite groups are embedded or linked below. If you are aware of advertisements that should be included, please email us.
Bill Conway
Supporting Conway
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Opposing Foxx
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Kim Foxx
Supporting Foxx
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Opposing Conway
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Campaign finance
Fundraising
The Chicago Tribune reported the following fundraising figures as of March 7, 2020:[9]
- Conway: $11.4 million
- Foxx: $3.6 million
- Fioretti: $744,000
- More: $436,000
Debates and forums
March 10, 2020
Click here to view a video of the March 10 candidate forum.
February 29, 2020
Click here for coverage of the February 29 candidate forum.
February 23, 2020
Election history
2016
Cook County held elections for county board of review, state's attorney, clerk of the circuit court, county recorder, and special districts in 2016. The general election was held on November 8, 2016. A primary election was held on March 15, 2016.[10] Kim Foxx (D) defeated Christopher Pfannkuche (R) in the Cook County state's attorney general election.[11]
| Cook County State's Attorney, General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Kim Foxx |
72.06% | 1,459,087 | |
| Republican | Christopher Pfannkuche | 27.94% | 565,671 | |
| Total Votes | 2,024,758 | |||
| Source: Cook County Clerk, "Cook County and The City of Chicago Combined Summary, General Election November 8, 2016," accessed November 27, 2016 | ||||
| Cook County State's Attorney, Primary Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Kim Foxx |
52.20% | 230,111 |
| Anita Alvarez Incumbent | 33.06% | 145,712 |
| Donna More | 14.74% | 64,990 |
| Total Votes | 440,813 | |
| Source: Cook County Clerk, "March 15, 2016 Presidential Primary Election Results," accessed September 12, 2016 | ||
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Illinois elections, 2020
Candidate survey
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About the county
- See also: Cook County, Illinois
The county government of Cook County is located in Chicago, Illinois. The county was first established in 1831. It covers a total of 946 square miles of land in northeast Illinois. As of 2020, its population was 5,275,541.
County government
- See also: Government of Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is overseen by a 17-member board of commissioners. Each commissioner is elected by district to a four-year term. Residents also elect a three-member board of review, county assessor, state's attorney, county sheriff, clerk of the circuit court, county clerk, county treasurer, and county recorder.
Demographics
The following table displays demographic data provided by the United States Census Bureau.
| Demographic Data for Cook County, Illinois | ||
|---|---|---|
| Cook County | Illinois | |
| Population | 5,275,541 | 12,812,508 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 944 | 55,512 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White | 54.4% | 69.8% |
| Black/African American | 23.3% | 14.1% |
| Asian | 7.5% | 5.6% |
| Native American | 0.3% | 0.3% |
| Pacific Islander | 0% | 0% |
| Other (single race) | 9.6% | 6% |
| Multiple | 4.9% | 4.2% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 25.3% | 17.2% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate | 87.7% | 89.7% |
| College graduation rate | 40% | 35.5% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income | $67,886 | $68,428 |
| Persons below poverty level | 13.7% | 12% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020). | ||
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
See also
| Cook County, Illinois | Illinois | Municipal government | Other local coverage |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ WBEZ, "Illinois’ Primary Elections Are March 17. Voters, Here’s Your Crib Sheet," March 5, 2020
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ WTTW, "Kim Foxx Backs Dismissal of Charges in Jussie Smollett Case," March 27, 2019
- ↑ In 2020, a special prosecutor filed new disorderly conduct charges against Smollett, to which he pleaded not guilty. NBC News, "Jussie Smollett pleads not guilty to renewed hoax charges," February 24, 2020
- ↑ The Chicago Sun-Times, "A side-by-side look at plans by Cook County State’s Attorney Democratic candidates Kim Foxx, Bill Conway, Donna More and Bob Fioretti," February 27, 2020
- ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Cook County state’s attorney candidates combined have raised more than $16M, more than doubling 2016′s haul," March 7, 2020
- ↑ The Chicago Tribune, "Bill Conway’s billionaire father is bankrolling his state’s attorney bid. His fortune came from a firm that invested in weapons manufacturers and nursing homes accused of neglecting patients," March 10, 2020
- ↑ ABC7 Chicago, "Foxx defends keeping money from Burke fundraiser, rival calls it 'tainted,'" December 19, 2019
- ↑ Total does not include contributions under $1,000 received since December 31, 2019. Chicago Tribune, "Cook County state’s attorney candidates combined have raised more than $16M, more than doubling 2016′s haul," March 7, 2020
- ↑ Cook County Clerk, "Presidential Primary Election General Information," accessed September 7, 2016
- ↑ Cook County Clerk, "Presidential Primary Election General Information," accessed September 7, 2016
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