State's attorney's race leads list of hot Northwest Suburban primaries

The two Democratic challengers looking to unseat Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez in Tuesday's primary say the county's criminal justice system is broken, but disagree on how to fix it and who's best suited for the job.

The primary for Cook County state's attorney is among the few hotly contested local races voters in the northwest suburbs will help settle Tuesday.

Alvarez, seeking a third term, has been scrutinized over her handling of the October 2014 shooting of black teen Laquan McDonald by white Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke - and the fact she did not bring charges against Van Dyke for 400 days.

Alvarez, a River Forest Democrat, describes the investigation as “meticulous and thorough,” and says neither of her challengers - Kim Foxx and Donna More - has the experience for such cases.

Foxx, a 43-year-old former prosecutor and chief of staff to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, says the state's attorney's office has had a decadelong history of disregarding corruption.

More, a 57-year-old lawyer who is a former assistant state's attorney and federal prosecutor, as well as an attorney for the Illinois Gaming Board, has portrayed herself as the only candidate free of political influence.

Brown in 3-way fight to stay court clerk

Dorothy Brown has been the clerk of the circuit court in Cook County for 15 years, but her iron grip on the office was loosened significantly last October, when the Cook County Democrats pulled their endorsement of her.

Now Brown is fighting for her political life, against Michelle Harris, the Chicago alderman who won the party endorsement, and Bucktown attorney Jacob Meister.

The clerk's office maintains the records for more than 2.4 million cases annually, making Cook County one of the world's largest unified court systems.

Meister says the office is “hopelessly antiquated” and needs to be modernized by becoming paperless. Under Brown, he says, it has become ethically and operationally dysfunctional.

Brown defends her modernization efforts, saying she has implemented electronic filing and document imaging - and says she will make the entire office electronic if she's elected to a fifth term.

Harris did not answer the Daily Herald questionnaire or meet with the Editorial Board.

In November, federal authorities announced the clerk's office was the subject of a federal corruption probe - after a former employee who loaned $15,000 to a company run by Brown's husband, Benton Cook III, was rehired by the clerk's office. Brown has not been charged with any crime.

Diane Shapiro, Republican committeeman for Chicago's 46th ward, is running unopposed in the GOP primary.

Three Republicans vie to replace Duffy

With state Sen. Dan Duffy declining to run again after eight years in Springfield, three Republicans rushed to fill the vacuum.

Duffy has endorsed Dan McConchie of Hawthorn Woods, who is running in the GOP primary along with Barrington Hills Village President Martin McLaughlin and Mettawa Mayor Casey Urlacher.

The campaign has at times descended into negative attacks in which the candidates have argued about who is and is not a legitimate Republican or conservative.

Urlacher, brother of Chicago Bears legend Brian Urlacher, says he can provide fresh conservative leadership in the statehouse. He is in his third year as Mettawa mayor and was appointed by former Gov. Pat Quinn to the Illinois Civil Service Commission.

McConchie, the vice president of government affairs for Americans United For Life, a national anti-abortion legal advocacy group, says he is a political outsider and national legislative expert. Along with Duffy, he has been endorsed by four other state senators, 10 state representatives and statewide gun rights and anti-abortion groups.

McLaughlin, who owns an investment advisory firm and oversees the investment of public and private pension assets, campaigns on his knowledge of pensions and his three years of experience running Barrington Hills. His most notable endorsements have been from local mayors and village presidents within the district.

The 26th state Senate district covers 253 square miles, including large portions of central and southwest Lake County, plus parts of northwest Cook County, northeast Kane County, and southeast McHenry County.

Democrats compete for Senate seat

With state Sen. Michael Noland seeking a seat in Congress, Kane County Board member Cristina Castro, 37, of Elgin, and Steve Caramelli, a 39-year-old Illinois state trooper and Hanover Township trustee, are running in the Democratic primary for his 22nd District post.

Castro says she participated in balancing a nearly $280 million county budget that kept property taxes flat for five years. Caramelli says he's proud of his contributions to the township board, which opted out of the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund fund two years ago. The 22nd District is in Kane and Cook counties and includes portions of Barrington Hills, Bartlett, Carpentersville, East Dundee, Elgin, Hanover Park, Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg, Streamwood and South Elgin.

Staff writers Barbara Vitello and Elena Ferrarin contributed to this report.