How McCarthy firing increases pressure on Alvarez
Tuesday's firing of Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy over the mishandling of the police shooting of a 17-year-old black teen turned up the heat on State's Attorney Anita Alvarez, but it's unlikely she'll be forced out of office in the near future, party operatives and political analysts say.
Alvarez, under criticism for possessing the dashcam video showing the shooting of Laquan McDonald for more than a year before taking action, has faced calls for her to step down from Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, county commissioner and former mayoral candidate Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, and six of Chicago's 10 Hispanic aldermen, among others.
And congressman Luis Gutierrez of Chicago wrote a letter Tuesday to Alvarez saying he's withdrawing his support for her, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Alvarez has said she will not bow to political pressure, and Tuesday night on WTTW Channel 11's "Chicago Tonight," she said, "I have no intentions of resigning."
Preckwinkle is backing her former chief of staff, Kim Foxx, over Alvarez in the three-way March 15 primary election, which also includes Chicago attorney Donna More.
Garcia, though seen as a Preckwinkle ally, hasn't said publicly whom he plans to endorse.
Gutierrez wrote in his letter to Alvarez that he promised his backing last summer over a lunch, the Sun-Times reported.
"After much personal anguish and soul searching, I have decided that I can no longer keep that pledge," he wrote. "This decision did not come easily, as I hold you personally in the highest regard. During your tenure as state's attorney I have been proud to single you out as a symbol of what women, particularly Latinas, can accomplish in a world where the odds are stacked against them.
"Laquan McDonald deserved justice: not last week, but thirteen months ago. You failed in this regard. The delay was inexcusable. I am not calling for your resignation. An election will be held soon enough. I will not be voting for you next March."
Alvarez, a River Forest Democrat, has faced heavy criticism for taking more than a year to investigate the Oct. 20, 2014, shooting of McDonald before charging police officer Jason Van Dyke with first-degree murder last week. A video of the shooting, released by Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office under a judge's order, shows Van Dyke shooting McDonald 16 times.
Unlike McCarthy, who reported to Emanuel, Alvarez's stance as an independently elected official makes it unlikely she'll be forced into resigning.
Democratic strategist Tom Bowen, pointing to the primary election in three months, described Alvarez's position in letting voters decide whether she is to stay or go as "reasonable."
However, he said, "in a way McCarthy being fired leaves only one other person involved in this to be the focus of attention. I think her record has a lot of problems."
Alvarez, in a statement, described herself as a "professional prosecutor" who is "not driven by politics." She said the investigation into McDonald's death took a long time.
"I will not be bullied by politicians who do not have a full understanding of the facts of this investigation," she wrote. "I offer no apologies for enlisting the FBI to investigate Laquan's murder because obviously the Chicago Police Department could not investigate themselves in this case. And I certainly do not apologize for conducting a meticulous and thorough investigation to build the strongest possible first-degree murder case against officer Van Dyke."
Alvarez, now serving her second term, made headlines in 2008 when she became the first female and Hispanic to be elected to that office, with former Gov. Pat Quinn and powerful Chicago attorney Bob Clifford considered key supporters.
But after her election, several controversies emerged, with Alvarez accused of protecting the image of her office over carrying out the task at hand.
She came under fire for long refusing to lift the convictions of the Dixmoor Five, men imprisoned for years before DNA evidence revealed they were wrongly accused of rape and murder in the South suburbs. Alvarez also was criticized for initially ignoring calls to reopen the case of the 2004 death of Mount Prospect native David Koschman. Former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's nephew, Richard Vanecko, was charged in that case eight years later and pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter last year.
State Rep. Lou Lang of Skokie, a vice chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party, said Tuesday he doesn't foresee party officials gathering to re-evaluate the state's attorney's race, as they did when they rescinded the endorsement of Cook County Clerk Dorothy Brown after revelations that she was being investigated by the FBI.
In August, party officials declined to endorse a candidate in the state's attorney's race, citing insufficient support for any one individual.
"There's a huge difference between an appointed police chief and an elected state's attorney," Lang said. In August, "we thought it was in the best interest of the race to just let things play out. I anticipate that's what we will continue to do."
The winner of the Democratic primary would face Republican Christopher Pfannkuche of Chicago, a prosecutor and teacher, in the November general election.