According to an Associated Press projection, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot failed to garner enough votes to progress to the runoff on Tuesday, effectively ending her ambition for a second term.
Lightfoot is the only Chicago mayor to lose a reelection effort in 40 years, since former Mayor Jane Byrne’s loss in 1983.
Lightfoot received 16.89% of the vote in Tuesday’s election, trailing former Chicago Public Schools Director Paul Vallas (33.95%) and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson (20.32%). The other two candidates will face off in a runoff election on April 4.
Coronavirus and a dramatic spike in crime marks Lightfoot’s time in office.
In 2022, Lightfoot’s Chicago saw 723 murders, a 95% increase in vehicle thefts, a 50% increase in theft, and a 10% increase in burglary and robbery from the previous year.
The crime wave has continued into 2023, with the first homicide of the year occurring barely 90 minutes after the clock struck midnight. Nevertheless, crime increased significantly in the first 22 days of 2023. This year, the crime rate in Chicago is up 97% when compared to the first twenty-two days of 2021. When comparing the same number of days last year, crime is up another 61%. Close to 100 car jackings per day took place in the first 22 days of this year, coming to a total of 2,189.
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL“Obviously, we didn’t win the election. But I stand here with my head held high and my heart full of thanks,” Lightfoot told supporters a little before 9 pm. “You will not be defined by how you fall. You will be defined by how hard you work and how much you do for other people,” she said.
Lightfoot was a disgrace of a mayor. She brought out her inner racist with a policy that she would no longer accept interview requests from white reporters.
Before claiming his position in the runoff, Vallas waited for Lightfoot’s concession call and speech. When he finally take the podium, he invited the audience to applaud the outgoing mayor for her service and courage.
“I haven’t been this happy since my son returned from Afghanistan,” Vallas told a cheering throng.
“Public safety is the fundamental right of every American. It is a civil right, and it is the principal responsibility of government. We will have a safe Chicago. We will make Chicago the safest city in America,” he said.
“It will not only come from providing the police with the resources and the support that they need, but from building the bond between the police department and the community, so we have true community policing. … I will also … have zero tolerance when it comes to violating the law or violating the Constitution. And this is coming from a family of four police officers, including my wife.”
A jubilant Johnson claimed his seat in the runoff a few minutes later, repeating what former Mayor Harold Washington stated on the day he became Chicago’s first Black mayor in 1983.
“Well Chicago, we did it y’all,” Johnson said. “They said that this would never happen. I am so freakin’ proud because we did this. A few months ago, they said they didn’t know who I was. Well, if you didn’t know, now you know. … We have shifted the political dynamics in this city.”
He continued, “Tonight is about building a Chicago that truly invests in our people. The most radical thing we can do as a city is to love the people of Chicago. Loving people and investing in people — that is the way my father raised me. The finances of this city belong to the people of the city. So, we’re gonna invest in the people of the city.”
According to the Associated Press, Vallas’ tough-on-crime campaign includes plans to hire hundreds of new police officers to patrol Chicago.
Johnson, on the other hand, has aligned himself with extremist anti-police movements, albeit he later retracted his support.
I think Lightfoot’s defeat is a wake up call for progressive Democrats. When things get bad enough is when you start seeing Democrats lose in Democrat strongholds, and I guess things got bad enough in Chicago.
We wish Lightfoot well as an MSNBC contributor.
