By Greg Bishop | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – A Republican vying for the party’s nomination for Illinois attorney general says he has the experience to put the law over politics.

Joe Cervantez said after serving in the Marines, he decided to stay in southern Illinois and became a lawyer. Eventually, he was elected Jackson County state’s attorney in 2020. Running for attorney general made sense, he said.

“I really can see now in retrospect the evolution of my career starting off as an assistant state’s attorney and seeing things that definitely could be improved,” Cervantez told The Center Square.

Cervantez said if elected Illinois Attorney General, his focus would be different than the current office holder, Attorney General Kwame Raoul.

“This is not about politics, it’s about public safety, but yet we play politics to put the people in place,” Cervantez said. “I think that the office needs to be concentrated on public safety and not arguing in front of the Supreme Court just for policy reasons or for party reasons.”

Every statewide office, from governor to secretary of state and attorney general, is held by a Democrat. Cervantez said that’s not good for accountability.

“Triplexes in states, they tend to fail the people,” he said. “I really do think that the attorney general’s office has turned into a function that can be best described as a lawyer for the political party that’s in power and we’ve got to change that.”

More candidates could announce for the Republican primary. Nominating petitions to get on the March 17 ballot can begin to be filed in late October.