Araceli Reyes de la Cruz

Name: Araceli Reyes De La Cruz

Age (as of Election Day): 45

Current residence: Chicago, Albany Park

Current position: General counsel and chief administrative officer, Acero Charter Schools Inc., 2016-present

Past legal experience: Chief of general prosecutions, Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, 2014-16; chief safety and security officer and senior vice president, Chicago Transit Authority, 2011-14; deputy chief of staff, Chicago Transit Authority, 2010-11; chief of safety and security compliance, Chicago Transit Authority, 2009-10; assistant state’s attorney, Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, 2001–09; victim/witness advocate, Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (1999-2001)

Campaign funds available, July 1 to Dec. 31: $83,731.12

Campaign funds spent, July 1 to Dec. 31: $41,743.49

Law school: The John Marshall Law School, 2001

Campaign website: delacruz4judge.com

Family: Married with a husband and two children

Hobbies/interests: Traveling and spending time with family, serving on the board of Casa Central Social Service Agency

Have you ever run for office before?

No, this is the first time.

Why should voters support your candidacy?

I think I’m a really well-rounded candidate. I went through my resume. I have a number of different experiences that clearly demonstrate my legal abilities. When you’re an assistant state’s attorney, you hit the ground running and never stop. I have extensive litigation experience in that regard. But then, I’m not a career prosecutor. I’ve done other things that have enhanced my legal abilities and also my professionalism.

In my current role, I handle matters that deal with education, privacy rights, labor laws, corporate governance, open meetings, the Freedom of Information Act — so just a whole gamut of different things. And then I feel that I’m also a keeper of the public’s trust. All the roles I’ve had have required a high level of ethical performance, whether it’s bringing felony charges against the accused, or making sure security and needs of transit riders are met.

And I bring multiple perspectives in to the courtroom. Judges throughout their tenure are assigned to all kinds of courtrooms. Different types of subject matters. And I know I have the ability to step into a whole new area of law and absorb that quickly, and I think that’s important.

Why do you want to be a judge?

Before I was even an attorney, I went to law school at night and worked full-time for the victim witness program for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. And that early on is when I first saw the impact a judge can have on someone’s life. And also saw how important it is that everyone who comes to court understands what’s happening. You can’t have access to justice if not everyone understands what’s going on.

My charge was helping victims and witnesses navigating the system. But I also saw great judges and not-so-great judges, and how they made sure everybody played the right role in the process.

Then throughout my career, my years as a state’s attorney — that’s where I felt the most comfortable, in the courtroom, in the work that’s done in the courtroom and the administration of justice. And though I’ve done great things since, I’ve always been called back to that.

I think that I would be a great one. I think that I would bring a lot of diverse experience and context to the bench. And I think I could effectively manage a courtroom, besides being an attorney my entire career, I’ve also been an executive, and I’ve managed people and projects. Good judges I’ve seen have a good command of their courtroom and the people in the courtroom.

What was the most interesting case you handled as a lawyer?

I’ve been asked this question before, and I think of a couple different ones. One I always think of because it sticks with me, the case of Semajay Thomas, and he received a lot of media attention. A young man that was on his way to becoming a professional boxer. He was Olympic-bound, real talented.

Essentially he was accused of partaking in fights, him and other young men, who basically assaulted another old man down the street. It was alleged his punch that was the fatal blow, and an older man was murdered. There was a murder charge.

My role in that was to present the witness testimony of the murder victim’s cousin, who witnessed the fight, to the grand jury. So I had to call upon my legal skills and litigation skills, securing testimony to the grand jury — but also the witness was extremely emotional, and he just, as I was prepping him, he could tell me all the details, but every time he got to the point in the story where he witnessed what happened, he just broke down.

It just took me hours to get him to the point where he ultimately testified. Semajay was acquitted. So, this was a small component of the case. But what stood out to me is the humanity of being part of a criminal case. The trauma people face when they have to relive these events. I felt like it called upon every skill I had, my victim work, my skills as an assistant state’s attorney. And, in the end, I was able to get him to a place where I got him to testify, and I feel like it was successful.

What would you consider your greatest career accomplishment?

I’ve had a lot of different roles, and I think I’ve had some good wins at each one, but when I think about my career, one of the things I’m most proud of is that I’ve taken on new challenges. So, I think originally I saw myself as a career prosecutor: “I’ll just be a prosecutor until I decide to run for the bench one day.” But in 2009, I had the opportunity to go to the CTA. I loved being an assistant state’s attorney, but financially, I needed to make more money. But it was scary because I was going to a new area, and the fact I did it, and did it well and was successful, emboldened me to continue doing that. I feel like I’ve been successful at each stop and I’ve been able to do well at each stop and continue onto the next.

My work at the state’s attorney, I was very proud of the witness work I mentioned earlier, the jury wins, the guilty verdicts. And also at the CTA, I think what I did there was significant, calling on my work as a state’s attorney and knowing what to do to put on a strong case. A lot of federal grant money for cameras at that time, and the inside infrastructure was lacking to support that camera work.

I took over the former legal library and converted that to a whole surveillance place, utilizing federal grant money, putting it to good use. So I feel like that helped take that camera program to the next level at CTA. Whenever I see an image, unfortunately, of someone doing something bad on the CTA, and I see that law enforcement is using that in their investigation, I feel good knowing I helped contribute to supporting that.

At the Illinois Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, that’s a state agency, so things move a little slow and things get backlogged. So, I was proud in working with other attorneys to address the backlog, revisiting old matters, asking “What evidence do we have? What can we do to resolve them?” Then I get really excited about protecting the interests of public school students. That’s a win every day.

What qualities do you plan to bring to the bench?

I think compassion. My work as a victim witness advocate, my work at a social service agency, my awareness of different issues communities are affected by. My ability to manage a courtroom well. My legal experience, obviously, and all the litigation experience I have. And then all the other areas of law. And even now, if we have a pending lawsuit or matter, I engage outside counsel, direct them on defense of those matters. And just my versatility. My ability to be a really versatile juror.