State’s Attorney candidates: Prosecutors not politicians

We all know a lawyer joke or two. But which profession can attorneys deride? Apparently, politicians.

Candidates for Cook County State’s Attorney were questioned by prosecutors in a forum hosted by the National Black Prosecutors Association and the National Hispanic Prosecutors Association at Quinn Chapel in Chicago last week.

In preparation for the Feb. 5 primary, the eight candidates gathered in the chapel at 2401 S. Wabash Ave.. Each tried to identify with the audience, mostly comprised of assistant state’s attorneys, by emphasizing their experience with the law rather than politics.

“I am an insider, but I’m not a politician,” said candidate Anita Alvarez, chief deputy at the State’s Attorney’s Office.

The other candidate who works for the office, First Assistant State’s Attorney Bob Milan, took a similar route by identifying himself as a “prosecutor, not a politician.”

It is required by law that the Cook County State’s Attorney be a lawyer, but not necessarily one with experience in the state’s attorney’s office. Candidates who are not working in the state’s attorney’s office found other ways to distinguish themselves.

“If [retiring State’s Attorney] Dick Devine was running, I would be the only one up here,” attorney Tommy Brewer said to establish himself as independent.

Ald. Howard Brookins Jr. (21st) tried to put a positive spin on his political involvement, calling himself a “frontline politician” with his finger on the pulse of the community.

Though he no longer works for the state’s attorney’s office, private attorney Edward Barron said he has worked closely with the office in all his positions.

“I’ve never been outside the realm of the state’s attorney’s office in anything I’ve ever done,” Barron said.

At one point, an assistant state’s attorney asked the six candidates who do not work for the office why she and her colleagues should consider voting for them. After she asked the question, Alvarez grinned widely and Milan leaned back in his seat.

Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica insisted that there’s more to the job than knowing the office.

“It takes a lot more…than being a career prosecutor,” Peraica said. “You have to be a politician.”

Peraica also said that as a Republican, he would shake up the Democratic establishment in Cook County.

“I’m not going to be anybody’s boy,” Peraica said. He accused other candidates of “prostituting to get the support of the Democratic Committee.”

The Cook County Democratic Party has not endorsed any candidate in the State’s Attorney primary race. The Cook County Republican Party has not endorsed anyone in the race yet either, and didn’t respond to phone calls requesting confirmation.

On Feb. 5 voters will decide who gets to run for State’s Attorney in the general election. Alvarez, Brewer, Milan, Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin and Alds. Brookins and Tom Allen (38th) are all vying for the Democratic candidacy. Barron and Peraica are running for the Republican spot.

When asked a question about financing their campaigns, nearly every candidate complained about the highly political process of asking for money. Milan called it “despicable” and “an unnecessary evil.”

However, when asked who their top contributors were, half the candidates sounded like politicians in avoiding answering. Milan and Alvarez refused to answer outright. Suffredin and Allen both ignored the “top contributor” part of the question.

Brookins and Peraica both listed several top contributors. Brewer said most of his campaign dollars came from his own pocket. Barron got a few laughs when he said his biggest donor was his mother.

The candidates must file special pre-election reports to disclose contributions received between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2007 one month before the primary election. According to the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, none of the eight candidates disclosed receiving any contributions in the first half of 2007.

After the panel, Alvarez said her main reason for refusing to answer was that she didn’t have permission from her top donor to disclose his name. She also said she thought that the question of who contributes to her campaign is “inappropriate.”

“Besides,” she said, “I’m not a politician. I don’t have the contacts they do.”