Foxx leading in Cook County state's attorney race

In the fiercely contested race for Cook County State's Attorney, incumbent Kim Foxx, a Flossmoor Democrat, is leading her Republican challenger, former Cook County judge Pat O'Brien, of Chicago, according to early, unofficial returns.

With nearly 90% of precincts reporting votes cast on Election Day, early returns show Foxx has 803,467 votes or 52%, O'Brien has 623,680 votes or 41% and Libertarian candidate Brian Dennehy has 100,895 votes or 7%. Those unofficial tallies also include early votes and many mail-in ballots.

Those tallies do not include mail-in ballots that have yet to arrive.

More than 1.08 million ballots were mailed to suburban Cook County and Chicago voters who requested them. Of those ballots, 262,258 have not been returned. Ballots postmarked by Tuesday will be counted if they arrive by Nov. 17.

Foxx, who's seeking her second term, chided O'Brien for what she called divisive rhetoric" which she says he adopted from Donald Trump. She also criticized him for "name-calling and fearmongering."

O'Brien, a former prosecutor, described Foxx as a "cheerleader for criminals" who has "lost the confidence of the community and harmed the reputation of the office" in part for her handling of the Jussie Smollett case.

Her office dismissed without explanation, charges against the "Empire" actor who authorities say staged a racist and homophobic attack in January 2019 and lied about it to police.

All results are unofficial.

Daily Herald wire services contributed to this report.