Hours after refusing to take a campaign-related question because she said it was an "official" event, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx then used that event to solicit campaign contributions.
Foxx participated in a court hearing on Wednesday to file the first motions to vacate low-level cannabis convictions ahead of the drug's legalization for recreational use across Illinois on Jan. 1.
She filed to expunge the records of the first 1,012 of what could be as many 770,000 people convicted of non-violent possession of cannabis under 30 grams.
At the same time, Foxx is running for re-election, facing a contested Democratic primary on March 17. The petitions she filed to appear on the ballot have been challenged by one of her opponents, former mayoral candidate and ex-Ald. Bob Fioretti.
Fioretti claimed there was "a pattern of fraud, pattern of forgery, and maybe even some type of wrongdoing" with Foxx's signatures. As is procedure with petition challenges, if enough signatures are ruled invalid, candidates run the risk of dropping below the required threshold and in turn, becoming ineligible to appear on the ballot.
When asked, Foxx refused to comment on the petition challenge at Wednesday's event, saying, "You know what, we’re here on the official side, talking about the work that we’re doing for marijuana convictions."
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When reminded that she's also running a campaign for a second term, she demurred once again.
"I'm here today in my official capacity as the Cook County state's attorney," Foxx said. "The campaign side of that will address those issues, but I’m fairly confident about our getting on the ballot and running for re-election."
But hours later, Foxx's campaign team used Wednesday morning's court proceedings to solicit campaign donations on social media.
Calling it "a historic day," Foxx's official campaign Twitter account tweeted, "I’m running for re-election because I want to fight on behalf of our communities, not against them," alongside a story about the expungements.
"Join me, and help us continue to reform the criminal justice system and move Cook County forward. #TeamFoxx," the campaign account added, offering a link for supporters to make a financial contribute to Foxx's campaign.
