Democratic Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul declares victory over GOP challenger Thomas DeVore

After a campaign charged with emotion over issues including crime and the state’s pandemic response, Democrat Kwame Raoul declared victory Tuesday in his bid for a second term as Illinois’ attorney general over a challenge from Republican Thomas DeVore.

With 59% of precincts reporting, Raoul had 56% of the vote and DeVore, a downstate attorney, had 41%, according to unofficial results. Raoul’s double-digit win tracked with other statewide Democratic candidates, including Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Raoul addressed supporters at Offshore Rooftop at Navy Pier at about 10:15 p.m.

DeVore called the incumbent to concede, according to Raoul’s campaign.

“We had a good race,” DeVore said in a speech to his supporters at The Drake Hotel Oak Brook. “Illinois is an interesting state, and we spent I believe the least amount of money ever on a statewide race.”

Raoul held a commanding cash advantage in the race. DeVore frequently joined forces on the campaign trail with the GOP gubernatorial candidate, state Sen. Darren Bailey, who lost decisively on Tuesday.

In the final days of the election, Raoul joined Pritzker and other Democrats at the top of the ticket at rallies targeting Black voters and labor groups. Of his opponent, during an earlier online forum, Raoul said DeVore “should not be let anywhere near the door of the attorney general’s office.”

The two differed starkly on most issues, chief among them Pritzker’s pandemic-related executive orders. Raoul’s office repeatedly battled with DeVore in court to defend the state against lawsuits challenging Pritzker’s mask mandate and other executive orders aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.

While there hasn’t been a final ruling in any of the more than 30 lawsuits DeVore filed against the state, he was successful in temporarily stopping some of Pritzker’s rules. The litigation served as a springboard in DeVore’s campaign as the political unknown from downstate Sorento steadily gained notoriety.

At 53, the civil attorney’s only experience in elected office was a two-year stint on the Bond County Board more than a decade ago. DeVore, who has the words “freedom” and “liberty” tattooed on his forearms, argued his willingness to take on the governor in court is proof he if elected would be a check on power and government overreach.

But DeVore didn’t come close to Raoul in fundraising efforts. DeVore started July with less than $16,000 in his campaign fund after winning a GOP primary in which he was vastly outspent by the second-place finisher, who was on a slate backed by billionaire Ken Griffin. As of early Tuesday, DeVore reported raising more than $500,000 in additional contributions, about half of which came from a loan he made to his campaign that lifted contribution limits for both candidates.

With the limits off, Raoul received a $1 million contribution from Pritzker’s campaign fund and, as of Monday, had reported raising more than $1.1 million in other contributions since July 1. That’s on top of the $1.1 million in cash he had on hand at the end of June.

DeVore attacked Raoul for being too closely aligned with Pritzker, repeatedly calling the incumbent attorney general the governor’s “lap dog.” Raoul dismissed such criticism, contending his independence is not for sale.

Raoul, 58, is a former Cook County prosecutor from Chicago who succeeded Barack Obama in the Illinois Senate, representing parts of the city’s South Side, before being elected four years ago to replace former Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

In response to DeVore’s criticism, Raoul argued his office was on the right side of the law and public health in defending the state’s actions on the pandemic and, thus, helped save lives.

DeVore also has sued Pritzker for defamation after the governor called him a “grifter” during a news conference in response to a question about DeVore’s legal challenges to the pandemic mandates. Raoul’s office defended Pritzker against the defamation allegation, but DeVore later dropped the lawsuit.

The attorney general accused DeVore of wasting the court’s time with what he deemed frivolous lawsuits. Besides Pritzker, DeVore in recent years has sued a special education teacher and two others for sharing a Facebook post in which DeVore referred to students working a school concession stand as “window lickers” and his girlfriend’s mother, whom he accuses of publishing a derogatory article under a pseudonym.

Raoul said DeVore’s largely unsuccessful lawsuits showed he was unqualified for the office. He also pointed to DeVore’s social media comments that indicated he might, if elected, investigate political adversaries, including Pritzker, and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, whom DeVore has criticized as being too lenient on criminals.

DeVore accused the incumbent of not being aggressive enough in fighting crime in his role as attorney general. The GOP challenger’s primary criticism has been with the SAFE-T Act, the sweeping criminal justice legislation Pritzker has signed into law. Among other changes, it will end cash bail on Jan. 1.

The law allows judges to keep defendants behind bars while awaiting trial if they are deemed to be a flight risk or danger to the public, but Republicans argue it will empty out jails and lead to increased violence. The measure faces an onslaught of legal challenges from several county state’s attorneys.

DeVore alleged the law is unconstitutional, raising issues with the way it was passed as well as its content. He pledged to work to get the measure overturned if elected.

Raoul, who backed the SAFE-T Act, has acknowledged he has concerns about potential ambiguities in the sweeping law and spoke to the need for lawmakers and prosecutors to work together to clarify some provisions.

In his first term, the attorney general created an organized retail crime task force to stem smash-and-grab offenses. He also pushed for stronger federal “ghost gun” regulations to crack down on homemade weapons. Raoul pledged to try to expand the attorney general’s jurisdiction over corruption cases if reelected.

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Though crime dominated much of the race, Raoul also highlighted his support for abortion rights, including his office’s defense against an ongoing lawsuit challenging a state law that enshrined access to the procedure as a “fundamental right.” The litigation objects to a provision of the law that requires health plans that offer pregnancy-related care to also provide coverage for abortion.

DeVore has described himself as “a pro-life guy,” but he said if elected he would continue to defend the state reproductive health law because he wasn’t aware of any constitutional problems with it.

Under Raoul, the attorney general’s office has played an active role in defending the rights of transgender people and the broader LGBTQ community. But DeVore said his approach to such social issues, which he said he would not actively litigate, marked “a fundamental difference” between him and Raoul.

Libertarian Party candidate Daniel K. Robin, a 45-year attorney from Schaumburg, was also on the ballot and wound up collecting just about 2% of the vote, according to unofficial results.

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