Eight years ago, Kim Foxx rode a wave of voter outrage over the police murder of Laquan McDonald to take over the Cook County state’s attorney’s office. She pledged to bring her personal experience of racism, poverty and crime to bear and restore trust in the office.

On Tuesday, voters hewed closer to the traditional role of the position, choosing a former prosecutor from a police family who promised to address fears of crime while measuring success by how many people the office could rehabilitate.

Democrat Eileen O’Neill Burke declared victory over Republican candidate Bob Fioretti less than two hours after the polls closed. With 92% of votes counted, O’Neill Burke led with 66% of the vote to Fioretti’s 29.5%, according to unofficial results.

“There were a million reasons not to get into this race,” she said from the stage at Moe’s Cantina in River North. “But I had this stubborn belief that I could not shake. I believed that we could make Cook County safer and have a justice system that works for everyone.”

Fioretti acknowledged to the Tribune Tuesday night that he “didn’t get enough votes.” He stopped short of saying whether he would consider running for office again in coming years.

“It’s still a Democratic city, a Democratic county, but I think we have a bench that is available that’s going to go to battle in the next times that are going to bring family, faith, and fiscal responsibility forward as their platforms,” Fioretti said.

Libertarian Andrew Kopinski garnered 4.5% of the vote, according to unofficial results.

A Chicago native whose father, grandfather and great-grandfather worked for the Chicago Police Department, O’Neill Burke described the fatal shooting of 26-year-old CPD Officer Enrique Martinez the night before the election as a “gut punch” and promised to “get assault weapons off the street.”

“We can build the best prosecutor’s office in the country, where we set a new standard for integrity, effectiveness and innovation. Whether you voted for me or not, I promise you this: I will work tirelessly as your state’s attorney,” she said. O’Neill Burke exited the stage to the tune of Dexys Midnight Runners’ “Come On Eileen” as bagpipers marched to the front of the room.

Her husband, attorney John Burke, broke the news of his wife’s victory from the stage Tuesday, with Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, 3rd Ward Ald. Pat Dowell, and 34th Ward Ald. Bill Conway standing behind.

O’Neill Burke worked for a decade as an assistant state’s attorney starting in 1991, handling juvenile cases, appeals and felony review. She transitioned to criminal defense until 2008, when she ran for judge on the county’s Circuit Court. In 2016, she ran unopposed for the Illinois Appellate Court, where she remained until stepping down for her bid to become the county’s top prosecutor.

Fioretti was previously 2nd Ward alderman and a personal injury and civil rights attorney. He ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for state’s attorney in 2020.

Either candidate would have been a departure from Foxx, whose leadership was focal point throughout the campaign. The first Black woman to run the office and one of the faces of the national progressive prosecutor movement, Foxx oversaw several reforms to the office that eventually led to the elimination of cash bail across the state and a precipitous drop in the county’s jail population.

O’Neill Burke and Fioretti both said they would tweak Foxx’s policies they deemed insufficient to address a spike in crime during the pandemic.

“Having no consequences is not working,” O’Neill Burke told the Tribune Editorial Board before the primary, pledging to more aggressively prosecute gun possession, carjacking, robbery and theft.

The office, O’Neill Burke said, was also suffering from “severe” morale and attrition problems — with several exits fueled by the pandemic and prosecutors being forced to take on unsustainable caseloads to make up the difference.

Fioretti seized on reporting about O’Neill Burke’s prosecution of an 11-year-old Black boy early in her career — and her response after the case resurfaced — as a signal of how she might take the office backwards.

O’Neill Burke embraced many progressive reforms, including for the state’s landmark SAFE-T Act eliminating the use of cash bail, and efforts to steer certain nonviolent or first-time offenders to diversionary courts.

But she also pledged to take a more rigid stance on prosecutions, proposing a blanket policy for requesting detention for certain crimes — including assault weapons possession, attacks on the CTA, or forcible felonies in which weapons are used. While Foxx opted not to pursue felony prosecutions of retail thefts unless stolen goods were worth more than $1,000, O’Neill Burke said she would bring that threshold back down to the state’s benchmark, $300.

Business leaders shook by the COVID increase in crime stepped up to support O’Neill Burke’s campaign, with several contributing in excess of $100,000.

Though Republicans held out for a “lightning strike” success for Fioretti, without televised debates, major ad blitzes or controversy, he struggled to make his message heard. Cook County voters last elected a Republican to the post in 1992, when Jack O’Malley won. Fioretti did, however, improve on his vote count compared to his 2020 run for County Board president.

Democrats swept further down ballot. Associated Press called the race for county clerk — the office responsible for suburban elections, vital and property records, and legislative proceedings — for Democrat Monica Gordon. Democrats chose Gordon, a member of the Cook County Board, to run after Clerk Karen Yarbrough’s death.

She led with 67% of the vote over Republican Michelle Pennington and Libertarian Christopher Laurent, according to unofficial results.

It was similar dynamic for Circuit Court clerk, the massive bureaucratic office that oversees records for the county’s unified court system. Mariyana Spyropoulos, an attorney and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago board member, led with over 66% of the vote, according to unofficial results.

Spyropoulos won the party’s nod and defeated incumbent Circuit Court Clerk Iris Martinez during the March primary. Republican Lupe Aguirre, a Chicago police officer, trailed with 27% of the vote, while Libertarian Michael Murphy had about 6.5%.