Renato Mariotti

Name: Renato Mariotti

Age: 41

Party: Democratic

Current residence: Chicago

Current position: Partner, Thompson Coburn LLP

Past legal experience: Assistant U.S. attorney, Northern District of Illinois, 2007-16; attorney, Heller Ehrman LLP, 2002-07; law clerk, Judge Patrick E. Higginbotham, 5th U.S. Court of Appeals, 2001-02

Campaign funds available, July 1 to Dec. 31: $345,063.50

Campaign funds spent, July 1 to Dec. 31: $146,426.52

Law school: Yale Law School, 2002

Campaign website: renatomariotti.com

Family: Lives with Trisha M. Rich, their dog Bear and their cats Mason and Savanna

Hobbies/interests: Strat-O-Matic baseball, board games, fantasy football, movies

What would you consider your greatest career accomplishment?

I spent more than nine years as a federal prosecutor going after people who tried to abuse the system for their own gain. As a federal prosecutor I investigated and prosecuted hundreds of cases including child exploitation, human trafficking, public corruption, cybercrime, gun trafficking, tax evasion, fraud, obstruction of justice and narcotics trafficking. As part of the Department of Justice’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Section, I handled the first-ever indictment and prosecution of a high-frequency trader under the anti-spoofing provision of the Dodd-Frank Act, a major case that signaled a sea change in the government’s ability to enforce securities regulations in the era of computer-aided trading. I also secured the convictions of Bogdanov crime family, Block 37 developer Larry Freed and convicted bank robber Jose Banks, who later escaped from prison and threatened to kill me.

Why should voters support your candidacy?

I am the only candidate who has lived in the legal system fighting power, fighting economic inequality, fighting injustice, and winning those fights. I am not a politician or a political insider. I am not beholden to special interests or the political apparatus. I am a lawyer who will ignore politics to work to make our state a place where workers can thrive, communities can thrive, and businesses can operate on a fair and level playing field.

What would be your top priority as attorney general?

As attorney general, my number one priority will be to stand up for the working people of Illinois. I will fight to stop the Trump Administration’s assault on constitutional rights and the rule of law. I will work tirelessly in support of economic justice. I will use the office to take on powerful special interests like the white-collar criminals I prosecuted at the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Regarding the ongoing consent decree talks with the Chicago Police Department, what policies or measures do you view as being necessary for the department to adopt?

We need to restore trust between law enforcement and the people they serve to tackle the violence and fear that plagues communities. Any consent decree should ensure that police will have the resources needed to do their jobs in the form of personnel, training, technology, and community support. We need to create coalitions among communities and police to work collectively to address the needs and concerns of each community. And we need to investigate allegations of misconduct and officer shootings with efficiency, fairness, and transparency to let all constituents know that police and elected representatives are working in the best interests of all parties involved.

How do you view the attorney general’s role in conjunction with the federal government?

The Illinois attorney general is not required to support or enforce unconstitutional or improper federal laws or the policies of the Trump administration. I will aggressively oppose those policies whenever appropriate. As I watch the Trump Administration repeatedly engage in unethical behavior — by undermining the rule of law, completely disregarding the truth and rejecting basic ethical standards — it is plain to see the importance of an attorney general that will unapologetically fight for the Constitution, for individual rights, and for the simple principles of justice and public accountability. When the federal government enacts policies that violate the Constitution, deprive individuals and families of their rights, and undermine the rule of law, I will do everything I can to fight against those policies and will make sure that the state of Illinois is at the forefront of these efforts, building and joining coalitions of attorneys general from across the country.

Do you believe state employees should be paid absent an appropriation? Under the current laws of the state, would you go to court to block their pay if they continued receiving checks absent a budget?

The hardworking state employees in Illinois should not be pawns in the political gamesmanship that has long plagued our state government. Illinois should stand by its obligation to pay state employees, even if the politicians cannot reach a budget agreement. I would not go to court to block their pay as Attorney General Madigan did.