Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Loses Reelection Bid

(Reuters)—Chicago’s incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot lost her re-election bid on Tuesday, with vote totals showing that two of her rivals will face each other in an April runoff ballot.

Paul Vallas was a former chief of Chicago public schools and Philadelphia. He ran unsuccessfully for Chicago mayor in 2019.

Brandon Johnson (a Cook County commissioner who is also an organizer for Chicago Teachers Union) won the other place in the runoff, receiving 20.2% of the votes. Lightfoot received 16.4% of the vote totals and she did not have enough votes to make up the difference between Johnson and her.

Public safety was the number one concern of residents in the third-largest U.S. metro.

The Democratic campaign has tested Democratic messaging regarding policing and the U.S. three years after protests against George Floyd’s police killing. This comes months after Republicans attempted to bully Democrats over this issue in the midterm elections in 2022.

Although technically the race in Chicago is not partisan, every candidate identifies himself as a Democrat within this heavily left-leaning area.

Lightfoot is running for a fourth four-year term as mayor of the city. She was the first Black woman to hold the office and the first openly gay person. Lightfoot was a surprise winner in 2019, campaigning as an outsider to end corruption.

Her handling of a string of crises, including COVID-19, racial injustice protests, a protracted teacher’s strike, and an increase in crime, cost her popularity.

Chicago saw more than 800 murders in 2021, which was the highest number in a quarter century. Although the homicide rate fell 14% in 2022, it remained almost 40% higher than in 2019.

Lightfoot stated that the 2022 decrease in murders and shootings is a result of her strategies such as hiring more officers, and focusing on illegal firearms.

Natalie Pauls, 53-year-old healthcare worker, voted in downtown Chicago. Although she declined to identify the person she voted for, she seemed to be echoing many voters’ sentiments when she stated that crime was a major concern. However, she didn’t think any candidate stood out.

“I want someone who is going to manage the police in a way where we are not seeing African Americans mistreated,” She said.

LOST SUPPORT

Lightfoot has clashed against the police and teachers’ unions. The police

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