Lake County Gazette

On Aug. 29, the Chairman for the Shields Township GOP and the Vernon Township Republican Party released a joint statement welcoming Mary Cole to the race for Lake County State's Attorney. The Chairmen expressed reservations about the incumbent State's Attorney and their belief that Mary Cole would bring improvement to their communities.

"We are delighted that Mary Cole is focusing on bringing integrity to the State's Attorney's office. The incumbent has turned the office into a social experiment that is leading to more crime in our communities," said Dan Rogers, Chairman of the Shields Township GOP.

"Mary is off to a great start on her campaign. She is an experienced attorney who is hard-working, dedicated, and with a clear vision for how to reform the State's Attorney's Office. We are excited that she is running," said Marko Sukvic, Chairman of the Vernon Township Republican Organization.

The Shields Township GOP is the local Republican organization for Shields Township, Illinois, which includes parts or all of Lake Forest, Lake Bluff, Knollwood, and North Chicago. The Vernon Township Republican organization is the local Republican organization for Vernon Township, Illinois, which includes parts or all of Buffalo Grove, Long Grove, Lincolnshire, Vernon Hills, Mundelein, and Libertyville.

Mary Cole announced her candidacy for Lake County State's Attorney this August. The General Election for the State's Attorney race will be in November, 2024.

The incumbent State's Attorney is democrat Eric Rinehart. Rinehart is serving his first term after narrowly defeating Mike Nerheim in 2020.

Cole said Rinehart has "turned this once proud office into his own political playground for his extremely far-reaching ideas that just do not focus on the safety of Lake County residents. The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office should never be political, but [Rinehart] immediately rewarded special interest groups, political donors and people who assisted in his campaign. He moved out numerous supervisors with years of prosecutorial experience in exchange for friends or political allies.”

Mary Cole is 39 years old. She worked in the Lake County State's Attorney's office from 2019 through 2021. 

The Lake County Republican Central Committee released a press release critical of Rinehart earlier this yea

"Only 10% of Rinehart's announcement speech covered his actual job: prosecuting criminals and keeping Lake County families safe,"  Lake County Republican Central Committee Chairman Keith Brin stated.  

"The rest was dedicated to how he's using the office to push his progressive agenda, talking about national social issues, and even stating he would refuse to work with state's attorneys who don't share his political beliefs. The people of Lake County don't want an activist as their top prosecutor, they want a strong leader who will hold criminals accountable, protect victims, and keep our communities safe. The Lake County Republican Party will put forward a pro-public safety candidate in the upcoming election."