Patrick O'Brien (Illinois)

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Patrick W. O'Brien

Prior offices

Cook County Circuit Court 1st Subcircuit

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Elections and appointments

Last election

November 3, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

University of Notre Dame

Law

DePaul University College of Law

Personal

Birthplace

Chicago, Ill.

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Patrick W. O'Brien was a judge for the 1st Subcircuit of the Cook County Judicial Circuit Court in Illinois.

O'Brien (Republican Party) ran for election for Cook County State's Attorney in Illinois. He lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.

O'Brien completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Patrick O'Brien was born in Chicago, Illinois. He obtained a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and a J.D. from DePaul University College of Law.

Below is an outline of O'Brien's career:

• 2006-2015: Judge, Cook County Circuit Court
• 1993-2006: Solo private practitioner
• 1993-2006: Hearing officer, Mayor’s Licensing Commission
• 1986-1993: Assistant Cook County state’s attorney/supervisor
• 1981-1986: Assistant Illinois attorney general
• 1975-1981: Assistant Cook County state’s attorney

Elections

2020

See also: Municipal elections in Cook County, Illinois (2020)

General election

General election for Cook County State's Attorney

Incumbent Kim Foxx defeated Patrick W. O'Brien and Brian Dennehy in the general election for Cook County State's Attorney on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kim Foxx (D)	54.2	1,194,299
		Patrick W. O'Brien (R)	39.1	861,108
	Submit photo	Brian Dennehy (L)	6.7	147,769

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,203,176
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Cook County State's Attorney

Incumbent Kim Foxx defeated Bill Conway, Donna More, and Bob Fioretti in the Democratic primary for Cook County State's Attorney on March 17, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kim Foxx	50.2	447,974
		Bill Conway	31.0	276,341
	Submit photo	Donna More	13.7	122,528
		Bob Fioretti	5.0	44,794
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	955

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 892,592
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Cook County State's Attorney

Patrick W. O'Brien defeated Christopher Pfannkuche in the Republican primary for Cook County State's Attorney on March 17, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Patrick W. O'Brien	72.5	51,610
	Submit photo	Christopher Pfannkuche	26.9	19,122
		Other/Write-in votes	0.6	427

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 71,159
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2012

O'Brien was retained to the Cook County Circuit Court on November 6, 2012, with 76.9% of the vote.

See also: Illinois judicial elections, 2012

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Patrick W. O'Brien completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by O'Brien's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Judge Pat O'Brien has twice worked in the Cook County State's Attorney Office, handling high-profile cases representing the State of Illinois, and as a result of his dedication to serving justice, O'Brien was appointed to high-level leadership positions in the Felony Review Unit as Felony Trial Supervisor; Bureau Chief of the Criminal Division; and finally, Chief Deputy, accountable for over 700 Assistant Attorneys handling criminal cases in Cook County.

Judge O'Brien also served as an Assistant Illinois Attorney General where he assisted State's Attorney's Offices across the State of Illinois with major criminal cases, often working closely with the elected State's Attorneys in each county.

O'Brien's impressive record as a public attorney served him well, when in 2006, he was elected as a Judge of the Cook County Circuit Court, where he presided in both criminal and civil courtrooms for 8 years, before returning to private practice.

Given Judge Pat O'Brien's extensive prosecutorial and judicial experience, his private practice has concentrated on criminal law, where he has provided fair representation for defendants. During this time, O'Brien has also been honored to be appointed a Hearing Officer for the City of Chicago Liquor Commission and as Attorney for the Police Board.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I'm running for Cook County State's Attorney to restore what the People of Cook County deserve in the State's Attorney's office: Experience, Professionalism, Common Sense, and the Rule of Law.
• The People of Cook County are fed-up, embarrassed, and have decided enough with ineptitude and outright corruption in the Cook County State's Attorney's office.
• Kim Foxx sees criminals as victims and believes victims of crime deserve no more protection than the people who commit crimes against them. She believes in enforcing a misguided social agenda and not the law.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

The Cook County State's Attorney must be committed to the safety of the community and pledge that the State's Attorney's Office will be professional, apolitical, and committed to the safety of the People of Cook County.

There must be a laser focus on the following:

1. Target gangs, guns, and drugs: It is our mission to free neighborhoods from their grip.

2. Enforce the criminal statutes, as written, not with political agendas.

3. Vigorously pursue criminal cases to their resolution.

4. Where convictions occur, recommend sentences which consider the Defendant's past and present harm caused.

5. Educate and connect with the community by sending Assistant State's Attorneys throughout Cook County to visit schools, beginning with grade schools.

6. Closely monitor Defendants who are awaiting trial while on bond or electronic monitoring to ensure their compliance with bond conditions. Where appropriate, increase those conditions if violations occur.

7. Act consistently with the State's Attorney Oath of Office without apology.

The Cook County State's Attorney's Office is in a state of disarray. Criminals are let free, and law-abiding citizens are prisoners in their homes. The Cook County State's Attorney needs to change, and I am the leader that offers that change to Restore Integrity and Order in the Cook County State's Attorney's Office.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

The State's Attorney's Office needs to be apolitical because people, even other elected officials, may have an agenda which is at odds with the State's Attorney's oath to enforce the Illinois criminal statutes.

The State's Attorney is the sole County Official with the duty to prosecute people who break the law. A prosecutor's decisions shaped by a social, economic, or political agenda, and not the law, corrupts the integrity of the State's Attorney Office. This has happened time and time again under the reign of Kim Foxx.

Finally and most importantly, the State's Attorney must be committed to the safety of the community. Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx has failed to put the safety of the community first.

What responsibilities of this office do you personally consider the most important?

The State's Attorney's Office must be professional, apolitical, and committed to the safety of the People of Cook County.

Professionalism demands that all Assistant State's Attorneys understand they are to enforce the criminal statutes without regard to the power or political influence of outside forces. This Office is unique in that the decisions to charge and prosecute violations of the law are not made based on an individual's social standing, economic status, or political clout. The public may, on occasion,disagree with a decision or an outcome of a case;however,they must be confident that the decision was made based only on the law and facts.

The State's Attorney's Office needs to be apolitical because people, even other elected officials,may have an agenda which is at odds with the State's Attorney's oath to enforce the Illinois criminal statutes. The State's Attorney is the sole County Official with the duty to prosecute people who break the law. A prosecutor's decisions shaped by a social,economic, or political agenda, and not the law, corrupts the integrity of the State's Attorney Office. This has happened time and time again under the reign of Kim Foxx.

Finally, the State's Attorney must be committed to the safety of the community.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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