CHICAGO — In deep blue Cook County, the Democratic candidate for states attorney, retired Judge Eileen O’Neill Burke, is looking past the November election and sounding like she’s already on the job.
So much so that she’s chosen not to debate her opponents, Libertarian Andrew Charles Kopenski and Republican Bob Fioretti, and instead continues to meet with various public safety stakeholders and gear up for the transition.
Fioretti, a former Democrat, has challenged Burke to five debates, writing to the retired judge: “Your occasional soundbites, rare public appearances, and infrequent responses to media inquiries just don’t suffice for the needs of Cook County voters.”
Burke has declined all of them, saying that while she respects her challenger and his commitment to public service, she’s not interested in a debate.
O’Neill Burke has a had a series of discussions with outgoing States Attorney Kim Foxx. She’s also met with Chicago police Superintendent Larry Snelling, whom she praises, and she’s had phones calls with Mayor Brandon Johnson.
In an interview with WGN, O’Neill Burke spoke on her approach to the job:
“We are going to follow the law and the facts and we’re going to make sure that we reach out to the community to make sure that their needs and their concerns are met, but we’re going to be prosecuting cases, that’s what our job is.”
On gun violence:
“We are seeing a mass shooting almost every weekend. We’re starting to become immune to those numbers. On Monday, morning we see 20 people shot, 30 people shot, 40 people shot and it’s not shocking us anymore. I don’t wanna live in a city like that, I don’t want think anybody wants to live in a city like that.”
On Illinois’ ban on assault-style weapons:
“We will seek detention on each and every assault weapon. This city, the entire county, is flooded with guns right now and they’re not any kind of guns, they’re guns that have been equipped with a switch and an extended magazine.”
On youth carjackings and robberies, O’Neill Burke is proposing a massive new youth outreach effort through her office:
“So I’ve had four children, and I will tell you, … children do not do well with unstructured time. They just don’t. … What we’re doing right now is just wash, rinse, repeat and waiting for them to get old enough for the adult system. I’m not willing to keep doing that.”
In the Democratic primary, Burke defeated Clayton Harris III by just 1,500 votes. O’Neill Burke won Asian, Latino and White majority precincts while Harris dominated in Black majority precincts, some of the county’s highest crime areas.
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