Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago Loses Her Bid for Re-election

Author: Editors Desk Source: N.Y Times

March 1, 2023 at 11:30

Mayor Lori Lightfoot stood next to her wife, Amy Eshleman, as she conceded the race to her opponents on Tuesday night.Credit...Jamie Kelter Davis for The New York Times

The result was a resounding defeat that reflected widespread dissatisfaction from voters over her handling of crime. Her challengers advanced to a runoff.

CHICAGO — Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago lost her bid for a second term on Tuesday, a resounding defeat that reflected widespread dissatisfaction from voters over her handling of crime and policing in the nation’s third-largest city.

Four years ago, Ms. Lightfoot made history as the first Black woman to be elected mayor of Chicago when she swept all 50 of the city’s wards. But she saw her popularity plunge during the coronavirus pandemic as Chicago suffered a spike in violent crime, with looting and destruction on its famed Magnificent Mile in 2020.

The two candidates to emerge from Tuesday’s first round of voting and advance to an April 4 runoff, according to The Associated Press, were Paul Vallas, a former public schools executive, and Brandon Johnson, a county board commissioner.

Ms. Lightfoot, who is the first sitting mayor in Chicago since 1989 to lose re-election, said in a concession speech late Tuesday that she “will be rooting and praying for our next mayor to deliver for the people of this city for years to come.”

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