Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson endorses Republican Fioretti for Cook County state's attorney

The Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. endorsed Republican Bob Fioretti in the Cook County state’s attorney race to succeed outgoing State's Attorney Kim Foxx.

In the November election, Fioretti, a former Chicago alderperson, faces Democratic nominee Eileen O'Neill Burke, who narrowly won her party's nomination after a bruising battle in March.

In a statement announcing his endorsement, Jackson said Fioretti has "championed our community for many years as an advocate, a civil rights lawyer, an alderman, and a friend."

"We need Bob Fioretti as Cook County State’s Attorney. This is not about party labels. This is about electing our community’s best State’s Attorney, who will temper justice with mercy," said the civil rights leader, who said that he has endorsed Republican candidates in the past.

"We need to split our ticket this year. After we vote for Kamala Harris for President, we must cross over and vote for Fioretti for State’s Attorney," Jackson added.

In response to the endorsement, a spokesperson for Burke's campaign said: "Lifelong Democrat and Judge Eileen O'Neill Burke looks forward to working with Rainbow PUSH and the community when she is elected State's Attorney."

Burke is a former criminal defense lawyer, judge and appellate court justice. Fioretti previously ran for mayor in 2019 and for city attorney in 2020.

In his endorsement, Jackson compared Fioretti to former U.S. Sen. Charles H. Percy, a moderate Republican who represented Illinois from 1967 to 1985.

"We used to feed the Confederates and the poor," Jackson said, referring to himself and Percy. "We used to have to go from Chicago to Mississippi stopping to use the bathroom very carefully. We won the battle against southern New Orleans, LA; Bull Connor from Birmingham, AL; and former Senator Strom Thurmond."

Jackson called Fioretti a "voice for the voiceless" who is always "fighting for what's right."

"He never asks about race, religion, money, or the zip code of those who need help. We know that Bob has always been on our side. And we are on his side," Jackson said.

Jackson contrasted Fioretti and Burke, calling into question Burke's record on civil rights. He referenced a 30-year-old case Burke worked on as an assistant state’s attorney. She prosecuted a Black youth on charges that he killed a white woman when he was 10 years old, WBEZ reported last December.

The boy's conviction was later thrown out by a federal judge who said his arrest was illegal and that the youth was coerced into making a confession.

"Bob helps the wrongfully convicted, and his opponent wrongfully convicts them," Jackson said.

Jackson worked alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as an organizer. In 1984 and 1988, Jackson unsuccessfully ran for president as a Democrat, appealing to a 'Rainbow Coalition' of underrepresented and marginalized Americans in the face of the conservatism of Ronald Reagan.

Fioretti ran unopposed during this year's Republican primary. Burke won the Democratic nomination after a tight race against Clayton Harris III. Libertarian Andrew Charles Kopinski is also on the ballot.

"I am very proud to have earned the trust and endorsement of Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr.," Fioretti said in an emailed statement.