Note: The video in the player above is from a previous report.
With just days until the results were certified, the Associated Press projected Eileen O’Neill Burke as the winner of the Democratic primary for Cook County state’s attorney, which turned out to be the contest the closest countywide election in Illinois’ 2024 primary elections.
Friday’s results showed O’Neill Burke with 264,289 votes to fellow candidate Clayton Harris’ 262,733 votes.
O’Neill Burke declared victory in a statement Friday afternoon, shortly before The Associated Press called the race, with the former appeals judge praising Harris on a hard-fought campaign and thanking voters.
Although Harris narrowly outperformed Burke in the city of Chicago, Burke won the Cook County suburbs by more than 15,000 votes.
With Cook County the state’s most obvious Democratic stronghold, O’Neill Burke is widely considered a front-runner in the November general election, which will also put Republican Bob Fioretti and Libertarian Bob Fioretti on the ballot. Andrew Charles Kopinski.
Harris’ campaign released a statement Friday afternoon, conceding the election to O’Neill Burke.
“After months of organizing, meeting and talking with people across the country, and waiting for every vote to be counted, we are a little short of our goal. I would like to congratulate Eileen O’Neill Burke on her victory. I am incredibly proud of the broad and diverse grassroots coalition we have built across the country with the vision of a criminal justice system focused on safety and justice. Where we keep every resident safe, no matter what neighborhood they live in, and where we do it fairly,” Harris’ statement read in part.
NBC Chicago
