About the Candidate
Name: Bill Conway
DOB: May 8, 1978
Occupation: Professor at DePaul University, Pro Bono Criminal Defense Attorney, Intelligence Officer United States Navy
Political Experience: I have never run for political office, but I have volunteered on several Democratic political campaigns.
Website: newdayconway.com
Twitter: @NewDayConway
Candidate Statement
I’m Bill Conway and I’m a Democrat running for State’s Attorney.
I’m running to enact real criminal justice reform, get after the gun crime epidemic, and get politics out of an office where it never belonged.
I was born and raised in Chicago. I know this city, I love this city and I have a progressive plan to make our neighborhoods safer.
I spent six years as an assistant state’s attorney in Cook County, prosecuting everything from traffic cases to public corruption and financial crimes.
And as a Naval Intelligence Officer in Qatar and Afghanistan, my job was tracking where the Taliban gets its money from and attacking those money sources so they couldn’t buy weapons to attack our troops.
As your State’s Attorney, I will help stop the flow of illegal guns to our streets by going after the suppliers.
But we also have a mass incarceration problem. There are too many people in jail because they’re poor, addicted or mentally ill.
We need real criminal justice reform so nonviolent offenders can get back on their feet.
And it’s well past time we get politics out of the State’s Attorney’s office.
Today, connected celebrities like Jussie Smollett and corrupt politicians like Ed Burke get better deals than Cook County’s working families. And that’s not right.
I don’t care what someone looks like, what neighborhood they’re from, how much money they make, or who they know -- every person in this county deserves fairness, equality, and justice.
As your State’s Attorney that’s exactly what you can expect from me.
Candidate Q&A
Why are you running?
I am running for Cook County State’s Attorney because the office where I once worked needs change. We need real criminal justice reform, we need to tackle our city’s gun crime epidemic, and we need to get politics out of an office where it never belonged. Whether it’s Hollywood celebrities or influential alderman, right now the politically connected get special deals and the rest of us do not. I think that’s wrong. A person’s race, zip code, income level, or who they know should never dictate the justice they get, and as your State’s Attorney I will fight for fairness and equality for every resident of Cook County.
What is your vision for this office?
If elected Cook County State’s Attorney I will enact real criminal justice reform and keep our communities safe. I will promote a criminal justice system that’s fair and humane to non-violent offenders -- we should never lock someone up for being poor, addicted, or mentally ill -- and will make us all safer by keeping the most dangerous off our streets, cutting off the flow of illegal guns into our community, and making sure politics has no influence over the decisions our State’s Attorney makes.
What do you think is the most pressing issue facing your constituents and how do you plan on addressing it?
I have criss-crossed this county and I continue to hear Cook County residents’ deep concern about the gun crime epidemic. Currently, the police are getting the illegal guns, only to have perpetrators of gun violence back on the street with new and more deadly weapons. I want to take the lessons I learned during my tenure as a Naval Intelligence Officer to bring new, smart and innovative strategies to cut off the funding that puts illegal guns on our streets. Working in our communities and with our neighboring counties and states, we can make us all safer by going after the gangs that profit by flooding our streets with illegal guns. And if you commit a crime with a gun while I’m in office, you’re going to stay in jail.
