On my first day in the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office, my predecessor sat me down to discuss what I thought would be a litany of instructions and office protocols. I was wrong. After steadying his gaze on me and letting a few seconds of silence punctuate the weight of what he was about to convey, he calmly said, “I ask only that while working in this office, you do the right thing.” That was it. Over the course of my nine years as a criminal prosecutor and four years as the State’s Attorney, my predecessor’s words have always stayed with me and I regard them as the best advice I’ve ever received about what it takes to be a state’s attorney.

As your State’s Attorney, I have always sought to do the right thing. I demand that my office maintain the highest moral and ethical standards, because we are representatives of the people and must hold ourselves to a higher standard. Our job is to maintain the public trust and our primary duty is to seek justice before all else.

Since taking office, I have delivered on my campaign promises. In my first term, I spearheaded critical programs that reduce crime and save taxpayers money, made our communities safer, and led the charge against the opioid epidemic. As promised, I got results.

If honored to serve McHenry County for another term, I promise to continue to keep McHenry County safe, be efficient with your tax dollars, and lead the fight against the opioid epidemic.

I am dedicated to ensuring McHenry County remains a safe and wonderful place to live and raise a family. To keep our communities safe, I have aggressively prosecuted sexually dangerous and violent offenders to remove those people from society. I earned a reputation as a tough, seasoned prosecutor in my nine years as a criminal prosecutor fighting crime in McHenry County, and as your State’s Attorney I have continued to deliver justice and put criminals behind bars.

I have accomplished this by developing a strong working relationship with our law enforcement, collaborating to make McHenry County safer. I am making sure we are attending to the needs of crime victims, providing unwavering support through constant communication and services. I am also ensuring that criminal offenders are treated fairly and that limited resources are not spent incarcerating non-violent offenders, especially our young people and those suffering from an untreated mental illness or addiction.

Meanwhile, I’m ensuring that our office is operating as lean and efficient as possible to provide some tax relief to McHenry County taxpayers. I have cut our budget by 12% while at the same time expanding the services we offer. We are working tirelessly to improve our court system, implementing programs that do a better job of rehabilitating offenders and reducing the overall cost of the justice system.

Finally, I am leading the fight against the opioid epidemic that has destroyed lives and inflicted untold misery on McHenry County families. Through the programs we have established, drug overdoses have fallen in McHenry County by ____% since 2017 while continuing to rise in surrounding counties. We are holding drug dealers and opioid manufacturers accountable, helping rehabilitate addicts, and educating the public on the dangers of opioid abuse.

In my first four years as State’s Attorney, I have gotten violent and dangerous criminals off our streets. I have earned the respect of law enforcement, victim advocates, and community leaders. I have stood with and advocated for victims of crime. And I have led the fight against the opioid epidemic.

It has been my honor to lead the fight for justice in McHenry County as your State’s Attorney, and I hope you will give me the honor of continuing this fight for another four years.