Democrat Lori Lightfoot was defeated in her re-election bid. She was the first black woman to be elected mayor of Chicago, Illinois.
Lightfoot was up against nine other candidates, but he failed to win one of the top two slots needed to be elected to the runoff elections on April 4.
Paul Vallas, a former Chicago school superintendent, will be competing against Brandy Johnson, Cook County commissioner in the runoff election. The Chicago Fraternal Order of Police endorsed Vallas who is considered a moderate candidate who will uphold law and order, while Johnson was supported by the Chicago Teachers Union as a progressive.
Many left-leaning people celebrated Lightfoot’s first openly gay Chicago mayor.
Lightfoot, in defeat, said, “Although we didn’t win today’s election, I stand here with my head held high.”
Recent polls revealed that Chicagoans have lost support for Lightfoot due to crime, particularly carjackings, and gun violence.
Lightfoot was well-known for insulting and attacking members of the media who challenged her decisions and questioned her. One famous exchange was when she criticized a reporter for asking for her to retract a tweet that issued a “call for arms” to people opposing the Supreme Court Dobbs abortion decision.
She screamed, “You’re not gonna let me talk, sir.” “You are not going to talk over me. That’s not the rule here in this press conference. If you don’t want those rules, you can take all your nonsense elsewhere, as I am almost full with you!”
More on Lightfoot’s reelection failure can be found here