Kim Foxx Scores Win For 2nd Term As State's Attorney

CHICAGO, IL — Kim Foxx managed to hold on to her seat for a second term as the Cook County State’s Attorney fending off a challenge from her Republican opponent Pat O’Brien and Libertarian candidate Brian Dennehy. Throughout the evening Foxx built a double-digit lead over the challenger, winning 53 percent of the vote in Chicago and suburban precincts, according to unofficial tallies.

Speaking virtually to her supporters, Foxx stayed true to her social justice reform agenda, despite harsh criticism from O’Brien throughout the campaign that she cared more about defendants accused of violent crimes than she did their victims. Foxx fought back, stating that the former Cook County judge was responsible for 21 wrongful convictions in cases he prosecuted during the 1980s and 1990s while an assistant state’s attorney.

"Tonight, voters chose safety and justice instead of law and order," Foxx told supporters. "They chose criminal justice reform and equity instead of wrongful convictions. They chose a way forward instead of going back."

O’Brien, a lifelong Democrat who ran as a Republican, surged ahead briefly during the might when suburban Cook County returns began coming in, where he beat Foxx among suburban voters, 51 percent to Foxx’s 43 percent. Dennehy may have played spoiler, siphoning off 6.4 percent of suburban voters. The suburban vote wasn’t enough to carry O’Brien over the finish line, who ran on a law and order #FireKimFoxx platform.

How Chicago and the suburbs played out in Cook County State's Attorney race

(Unofficial totals Chicago Board of Elections/Cook County Clerk)

In a short concession speech outside the White Eagle Events and Convention Center, O'Brien said he would go back to being a retired judge.

“Hopefully, the next four years will find us in a better position than we are now," O'Brien said. "All I can say is we gave it our best shot."

Throughout the campaign, O'Brien raised more money than Foxx, winning the endorsement of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police and dozens of Cook County judges. O'Brien hammered Foxx on her handling of the Jussie Smollett case, when charges were dropped after Smollett allegedly reported he had been the victim of a racist, homophobic attack. Foxx ran a prominent digital ad on social media, with three men who had been exonerated by DNA evidence when they were wrongfully accused and convicted for the 1986 murder of medical student Lori Roscetti. O'Brien was the prosecutor in that case.

Acknowledging that her first term in office wasn’t always easy, Foxx said she would continue to focus on violent crime and justice for all of Cook County’s communities.

“To have the opportunity to represent families like mine is an honor, and a privilege that I don’t take lightly," she said. "This win is about all of us — it’s about securing a fair, safe, and equitable future for our neighborhoods. It’s about lifting up Black and Brown communities that have been over-criminalized. It’s about protecting immigrant families. It’s about advocating for reproductive rights. This election is about creating a path forward.”

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