Joe Birkett

Joseph E. Birkett (born 13 February 1955) is the DuPage County State’s Attorney and former Republican nominee for Illinois Lieutenant Governor with running-mate Judy Baar Topinka. Birkett has been State’s Attorney since October 1, 1996 when he was appointed to fill the vacancy left by Anthony Peccarelli.

Biography

Birkett is one of 10 children on Chicago’s West side. His father died when he was 13. He attended St. Phillip High School, and Aurora Central Catholic High School where he was football team captain and Most Valuable Player. He went on to attend North Central College, where he earned a B.A. in Political Science and English in 1977. He received his Juris Doctor from John Marshall Law School in 1981, where he placed first in the Intramural Moot Court Competition.

He was the Assistant State’s Attorney of Dupage County from 1981 to 1985, Chief of Major Crimes Unit from 1988 to 1986, Deputy Chief of Criminal Division from 1986 to 1991, Chief of Criminal Division from 1991 to 1996, and has served as DuPage County State’s Attorney since then. He was first elected in November 1996, then re-elected in 2000 and 2004.

Birkett gained national attention when he prosecuted Marilyn Lemak in 1999 for the murders of her three children. Lemak is currently serving a life sentence.

He has been married to Patricia Hill since July 9, 1977, and has two children, Nick and Jackie. He is a resident of Wheaton and attends St. Daniel The Prophet Catholic Church in Wheaton. His brother-in-law is George Wendt, who is married to Birkett’s sister Bernadette. [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0083579/bio]

Run for Attorney General

In 2002, Birkett ran for Illinois Attorney General against Democrat Lisa Madigan. Madigan defeated Birkett in the November 7, 2002 General Election with 50 percent of the vote to Birkett’s 47%.

Run for Lieutenant Governor

Judy Baar Topinka named Birkett as her running mate on 9 December 2005. On March 21, 2006, he defeated Steve Rauschenberger, Sandy Wegman, and Lawrence Bruckner in the Republican Party’s primary. Topinka also won her primary race. In the November 7, 2006 General Election, Democrats Rod Blagojevich and Pat Quinn defeated Topinka and Birkett, as well as the Green Party’s Rich Whitney and Julie Samuels.

Controversy

On July 18, 2007, The "Naperville Sun" published an editorial calling the state's attorney's charges against two war protestors "heavy-handed". The editorial opined:

It is hard to believe that the criminal charges against Sarah M. Hartfield, 45, of Naperville and Jeff Zurawski, 39, of Downers Grove are not at least to some extent politically inspired in nature...We also suspect that had the banner read "Support Bush and Cheney" instead of "Impeach Bush and Cheney - LIARS" the situation would have been viewed a little differently. [ [http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/opinions/472152,6_4_NA18_EDITORIAL_S1.article Charges too severe against those who hung banner] July 18, 2007 The Naperville Sun] [ [http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-both_banner_17jul17,1,302607.story?coll=chi-news-hed 2 face new charges in political-banner case] By Art Barnum July 17, 2007] ["New charges in war protest arrests" - Chicago Daily Herald, IL Jul 17, 2007]

References

External links

* [http://www.joebirkett.com/ Joe Birkett's Official Website]
* [http://www.boxrec.com/media/index.php/Joe_Birkett Box Rec bio of Joe Birkett]