Today, March 15, Anita Alvarez couldn’t make up for lost ground and conceded the race to Kim Foxx. With 74 percent of votes counted, Foxx led the race with 58 percent to Alvarez’ 29 percent, according to DNAinfo. Donna Moore was a distant third.

Back in 2008, Alvarez became the first female and first Latina candidate to fill the seat of Cook County’s State Attorney. However, public perception of her changed almost instantly when it was revealed that she waited 13 months to charge Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke with murder after shooting Laquan McDonald 16 times.

Alvarez was accused of working with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in an attempt to cover up the incident until after he secured his seat in an election. While she denies this, her opponents for the Democratic State’s Attorney nomination focused on the obvious bungling – or intentional misconduct – of the McDonald case. Activists throughout the county even put up banner and signs on streets and social media with the hashtag “#ByeAnita”.

Alvarez supporters gathered at the Palmer House Hilton Hotel in Chicago’s downtown to support her “rain or shine.” It was no good though. Around 9 p.m., Alvarez called Foxx to congratulate her officially for winning the nomination.

The next step will be for Foxx, who was formerly Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle’s chief of staff, to face Christopher E.K. Pfannkuche in the general election in November.

 

Photo Credit: Twitter