Cook County, Il., State’s Attorney Kim Foxx fended off three Democratic challengers Tuesday, moving closer to winning a second term after months of swatting away criticism for her handling of the Jussie Smollett case, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Foxx had 48 percent of the vote with 85 percent of precincts reporting. Former prosecutor Bill Conway, who poured millions of dollars of his father’s money into a bid to oust Foxx, was in second place with 33 percent of the vote and conceded. Gambling lobbyist Donna More, who ran against Foxx in 2016, had 14 percent of the vote while former alderman Bob Fioretti had 5 percent..
Foxx thanked her campaign staff for their work “in a battle against dollars that were being poured into this.” She said, “There was an effort to make this election about one big case involving a celebrity. The voters have overwhelmingly put that fallacy to rest.” She spent much of the speech touting her reform efforts. ”Tonight, the voters have once again spoken and are calling us to continue our mandate of criminal justice reform,” Foxx said. “They are calling us to continue to make Cook County a model for this country. I pledge to keep pushing for change that is fair, that is just, that is equitable while keeping our communities safe.”