Former federal prosecutor and political neophyte Lori Lightfoot made Chicago history Tuesday night when she won a runoff nonpartisan election to become Chicago’s first black woman, and first openly-gay candidate, ever elected mayor. Winning with a staggering 74% of the vote after parlaying her leadership of a task force on police killings, Lightfoot’s outsider status gave her a huge edge over her opponent, Toni Preckwinkle, the head of the Cook County Board of Commissioners and a former boss of the city’s Democratic Party, who was also a black woman.
After Mayor Rahm Emmanuel declared he would not seek reelection in September as the city’s precarious finances and the appearance of a coverup of police misconduct tainted his image, 14 candidates vied for the position during a non-partisan election, which led to Tuesday’s runoff after none of the candidates managed to secure a majority in the first round. Both Preckwinkle and Lightfoot beat out Bill Daley, the brother of Emmanuel’s predecessor, Richard Daley, and a member of a Chicago political dynasty, a sign that voters were fed up with the city’s political class and its reputation for self-dealing.
Lori Lightfoot
Lightfoot triumphed despite being outraised by Preckwinkle, who touted her status as a political “boss” during her campaign, with Lightfoot starting the runoff with just $731,000 on hand, compared with Preckwinkle’s $3.9 million. In addition to securing the support of the city’s powerful unions, Preckwinkle also won the endorsement of Chance the Rapper, one of the city’s most prominent figures in the entertainment industry, according to Politico.
But in addition to her “insider” status, Preckwinkle also suffered from her association with longtime city Alderman Ed Burke, who was recently arrested on corruption charges.
When she is sworn in next month, Lightfoot will become Chicago’s second female mayor after Jane Byrne, who served one term from 1979 to 1983, and its third black mayor after Harold Washington, who was elected to succeed Byrne in 1983, and Eugene Sawyer, who became acting mayor when Washington died in 1987.
“She had the right message at the right time,” said Jason McGrath, a pollster and senior adviser to Lightfoot’s campaign. “We knew for months we had something special and just needed the right circumstance to evolve for us to get to a point where people were ready to listen to the message. At the end of the day, from every neighborhood from Beverly Park to Uptown, people wanted something different.”
Lightfoot, age 56, was an assistant US attorney before entering private practice. Despite her lack of political experience, she was endorsed by the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune newspapers, as well as Congressmen Jesus “Chuy” Garcia and Robin Kelly, as her “reformer” campaign picked up traction. She ran on a promise to drive out corruption from city hall, and to invest more resources in the western and southern ends of the city, NBC News reported.
Unsurprisingly in a city where the Republican Party has essentially ceased to exist, all 14 of the candidates who ran alongside Lightfoot in the runoff were associated with the Democratic Party to varying degrees.
During her victory speech, Lightfoot extended an olive branch to her defeated rival.
“In this election Toni and I were competitors, but our differences are nothing compared to what we can achieve together,” Lightfoot said. “Now that it’s over, I know we will work together for the city that we both love.”
“Today, you did more than make history,” Lightfoot said. “You created a movement for change.”
She also spoke of a “city reborn” and said her victory showed a city where “it doesn’t matter what color you are, where it sure doesn’t matter how tall you are, and where it doesn’t matter who you love.”
Watch her victory speech:
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That should fix things….
Gats,what could possibly go wrong here?!
Countdown to dystopia, white heterosexual men need not ask, only obey. The coming financial collapse will sort things out!
Illinois should be ground zero. States need to be able to have violent armed insurrections against state governments. Speaker Madigan should be “doing the Mussolini” from the nearest lamp post along with Emmanuel and the Daley’s and Rauner, Durbin, Obama, Jarret, the Jesses etc..
” Both Preckwinkle and Lightfoot beat out Bill Daley, the brother of Emmanuel’s predecessor, Richard Daley, and a member of a Chicago political dynasty, a sign that voters were fed up with the city’s political class and its reputation for self-dealing.”
what bs,what it shows is that whites are becoming more & more unelectable in urban areas–
I ordered a book last week.
It came in just yesterday. It was shipped from Chitcago.
Not so ironically, the title is
A Bright Shining Lie
John Paul Vann and America In Vietnam? Heck of a fine read. Enlightening in the extreme.
Who didn’t see that coming.
To quote the article: “Today, you did more than make history,” Lightfoot said. “You created a movement for change.”
Change – my ass. Same old tired rhetoric that Barry O tried to pedal. The only thing that will change Chicago is a 10 megaton thermonuclear fusion bomb.
What’s really happening: Chicago is such a shit-show, no self respecting person would ever want to be mayor. So they get these ‘bottom of the barrel’ candidates. Best of the worst.
We’re all going to pay for the pensions, once they drive Chicago into bankruptcy.
Chicago…it was nice knowing you but sad to see you on the road to suicide. RIP.
From the photograph provided it appears her rally symbol really is for “fist fucking” Chicago.
So now the whole weight of Chicago government will be behind the decriminalization of black homosexual women. Like Jusse Smollete. I may have misspelled her name but don’t care.
Raise taxes, hire more clowns and chase out the last remaining profitable businesses……
A platform we all can believe in.
//SARC OFF//
Why should shoes be taxed as medical devices?
Because they protect you from hepatitis by stepping in human feces.
The freight train is pointing steeply downhill and the engineer has just opened the throttle to wide open. Gay Prog minority cop hating woman elected by the idiocracy of a sanctuary welfare pit. Typical of the model big city there is no middle class.
And the Rebel Pundit guys, voices in the wilderness, continue to ask ” Look around! Ain’t no Republicans ’round here. So who is doing this to us?”
The only things missing from the mayor -elect is a hijab and a wheelchair.
Well, guess that virtue signalling will result in some fantastic urban renewal.
Of course they elected that thing. Why wouldn’t they. After all the average IQ in Chicago is below 85.
Chicago is a doomed city.
They will go belly up – once nobody will loan them money.
I guess we’re going to need to add an ‘F’ rating for bonds.
Her opponent clearly needed a transgender midget lover, and a wheel chair.
Easy.
I am surprised her campaign staff missed it.
Why are so many queer black people from Chicago in the news lately? And how could we elect one President? Twice?
Very very strange.
Rigged! No negro openly queer wins anything with that large of a percentage in ShitCageo.