Source: Joshua Lott / Getty
Last week, Chicago said “goodbye” to Donald Trump and did the exact same to Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez.
In a county-wide primary, Kim Foxx won 59 percent, becoming the Democratic nominee for one of Chicago’s highest legal positions. At 9pm Central time, Alvarez conceding, sending Foxx congrats on her victory, DNA Info reported.
“The work is just beginning, and our struggles here are very real,” Foxx told her supporters in a victory speech. “The need to rebuild a broken criminal justice system here in Cook County is not work that should be taken lightly.”
It’s not surprising that Alvarez lost given the copious amount of negative attention she received surrounding the death of Laquan McDonald, “in which she took 13 months before charging the Chicago police officer [Jason Van Dyke] who shot McDonald 16 times,” DNA info noted. She has also been accused of protecting police for numerous others killings, including the death of Rekia Boyd. Her critics called for her resignation and even started the hashtag #ByeAnita, which is currently trending on Twitter.
Speaking at the Palmer House Hilton, Alvarez, the first Latina to hold that position, defended her work and her record for the city of Chicago. “I’ve been criticized that I wasn’t a very good politician. That’s probably right. And that’s probably why I stand here tonight,” she said. However, Chicago residents and others thought otherwise:
Defeating Alvarez was mostly due to Foxx’s campaign emphasizing on her transparency, honesty and willingness to do right by the city of Chicago. The once homeless Southside native turned prosecutor, who was backed by both the Tribune and Sun-Times, repeatedly attacked Alvarez on her campaign trail saying that under Alvarez “trust in our criminal justice system has been broken.” Yet, Foxx didn’t walk away from this fight unscathed, her opponents accusing her of lying about her experience and not claiming all of her campaign funds.
Apparently voters weren’t too concerned about those claims.
However, it’s important to point out that Foxx’s win was not merely on her merit alone–it was also due to work of local activists, including the Black Youth Project, Assata’s Daughters and We Charge Genocide, who tirelessly organized and raised awareness around what another term under Alvarez would look like for Black, Latino and working class Chicagoans. Yet, even in this victory, activist feel that there is still more work to be done:
Foxx has one more battle to do as she is expected to face Republican candidate Christopher E. K. Pfannkuche in the general election later this year.
RELATED LINKS:
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Jurors, Witnesses Allegedly Threatened Into Silence In Both Freddie Gray & Laquan McDonald Trials
#ByeAnita: Kim Foxx Wins Dem Primary In Cook County State’s Attorney Race was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
