Chicago's incumbent mayor Lightfoot loses re-election bid
World
She had a positive message in her concession speech, saying "We put this city on a better path."
(Reuters) - Chicago's incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot lost her re-election bid on Tuesday (February 28), with vote totals showing that two of her rivals will face each other in an April runoff ballot.
Lightfoot, the first Black woman and first openly gay person to serve as the city's mayor, was bidding for a second four-year term. She emerged as a surprise victor in 2019, campaigning as an outsider who would end corruption.
But her handling of a series of crises, including the Covid-19 pandemic, racial justice protests, a protracted teachers' strike and a spike in crime, sapped her popular support.
Still, she had a positive message in her concession speech, saying "We put this city on a better path."
There were more than 800 murders in Chicago in 2021, the most in a quarter-century. The homicide rate dropped 14% in 2022 but remained nearly 40% higher than in 2019.
Lightfoot has said the 2022 drop in murders and shootings shows that her strategies, such as hiring more officers and focusing on illegal guns, are having an impact.
Paul Vallas, the former public schools chief in Chicago and Philadelphia who ran unsuccessfully for Chicago mayor in 2019, secured the top spot, taking 34.9% of the vote with 91% of precincts reporting, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Brandon Johnson, a Cook County commissioner and an organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union, secured the other spot in the runoff race, taking 20.2% of votes. Lightfoot had 16.4% of vote totals, and there were not enough votes outstanding for her to make up the ground between her and Johnson.
Polls showed public safety is by far the top concern among residents of the third-largest US city.
