Berlin launches bid for DuPage state’s attorney

DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin announced Wednesday he will seek a full term in the 2012 election.

Berlin made the announcement at the county fairgrounds in Wheaton flanked by several police officials and high-ranking members of the Republican Party.

This will be Berlin’s first run for elected office. He was appointed to replace former State’s Attorney Joe Birkett, who stepped down in December to become an appellate judge.

Berlin and his supporters cited his experience as a veteran prosecutor of more than 23 years in Cook, Kane and DuPage counties.

“I think the state’s attorney should be an experienced prosecutor who has the judgment to make tough decisions,” Berlin said. “I think that’s what the people of the county deserve in that position. I think I fit that category.”

If elected, Berlin said he will put a priority on protecting children and senior citizens, and lead an office proactive in educating youths about the consequences of poor decisions.

Berlin’s announcement drew support from several top Republicans, including state Sens. Kirk Dillard and John Millner, and state Rep. Michael Connolly. He also received backing from county board Chairman Dan Cronin, Sheriff John Zaruba and Coroner Pete Siekmann, among others.

Bob Peickert, chairman of the Democratic Party of DuPage County, said local Democrats have not identified a candidate to run against Berlin but hope to do so in coming months.

“We certainly hope to have a candidate run,” he said. “We haven’t interviewed anybody at this point, but there’s still a lot of time.”

Berlin, of Clarendon Hills, is a graduate of Washington University School of Law in St. Louis and Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa. He started his career as a Cook County prosecutor before joining the Kane County state’s attorney’s office as first assistant in 2001.

In DuPage, Berlin has worked as deputy chief of the juvenile division, deputy chief of the felony trial division and chief of the criminal division. He has tried four first-degree murder trials — including three death penalty cases — in DuPage, and more than 40 first-degree murder trials in Cook, his campaign said.