Lori Lightfoot: Chicago mayor will lose reelection bid, CNN projects, as crime concerns grow | CNN Politics
By: Eric Bradner (CNN)
Tuesday's municipal election marked the first time in more than 30 years that Chicago has ditched its mayor.
And for good reason
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot lost her bid for a second term Tuesday, failing to make a top-two runoff in the latest demonstration of growing concerns about crime in one of the nation's largest cities.
Paul Vallas, a long-time public schools chief who ran on a tough-on-crime message, and Brandon Johnson, a Cook County commissioner backed by progressives and the Chicago Teachers Union, will advance to the April runoff, CNN projects.
Tuesday's municipal election marked the first time in more than 30 years that Chicago has ditched its mayor. Lightfoot could not overcome years of fights with the police and teachers' unions, a spike in violent crime during her administration and Chicago's slow recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Lightfoot conceded Tuesday evening, telling supporters that she is now "rooting and praying for the next mayor of Chicago."
Former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas speaks with supporters after forcing a mayoral runoff election during his election night gathering at City Hall Events on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, in Chicago's West Loop. Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/TNS/Getty Images
Vallas built his campaign around a pro-police, tough-on-crime message - one he highlighted in celebratory remarks after Lightfoot had called Vallas and Johnson to concede.
"We will have a safe Chicago. We will make Chicago the safest city in America," Vallas said.
The big question over the next five weeks is whether Vallas' more conservative message will attract enough support to win in a city where nearly 83% of votes in the 2020 presidential race went to the Democratic ticket.
Johnson, in his speech Tuesday night, showed the first signs that he will seek to consolidate liberals who supported other candidates in the nine-person field. He cited each candidate by name.
"If you voted for one of those other candidates, I want you to know that I'm running to be the mayor of you, too," Johnson said.
Cook County Commissioner and Chicago mayoral candidate, Brandon Johnson speaks with supporters after forcing a mayoral runoff election during his election night gathering on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, in Chicago. Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/TNS/Getty Images
Because no candidate is on course to top 50% in Tuesday's election, the top two of the nine candidates on the ballot are moving on to the April 4 runoff.
Lightfoot, the first Black woman and first out gay person to serve as mayor in a city often pilloried by conservatives in national debates over violence and gun control, rose to prominence as a pugnacious reformer promising a break from the corruption and clubby governance that had long marked Chicago politics.
But years of contentious brawls over policing, teacher pay and Covid-19 public safety policies, as well as mounting complaints about long waits in Chicago's public transit system, left Lightfoot vulnerable, raising the stunning prospect of the Second City ousting its incumbent mayor in the first round of voting.
Video Ad Feedback 'I got elected to shake things up': Lightfoot on time as mayor (2021) 03:31 - Source: CNN
Lightfoot found herself with few allies in her bid for a second term, and a host of powerful interests aligned against her. The Chicago Fraternal Order of Police endorsed Vallas. The Chicago Teachers Union backed Johnson. Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, with whom Lightfoot has clashed, stayed out of the race entirely.
More than 507,000 ballots had been cast by the time polls closed Tuesday, Chicago elections officials said. More mail-in votes will be added to that total as they arrive.
Concerns about crime and public safety have rattled Chicago. Violence in the city spiked in 2020 and 2021. And though shootings and murders have decreased since then, other crimes - including theft, car-jacking, robberies and burglaries - have increased since last year, according to the Chicago Police Department's 2022 year-end report.
The dynamic has been similar to what played out in other big-city mayoral elections in recent years. In New York City, Mayor Eric Adams won with a pro-police, tough-on-crime message in 2021. But in Los Angeles, voters elected Rep. Karen Bass last year over billionaire developer Rick Caruso, who had pumped $100 million into a campaign in which he had focused on a pitch for law and order.
Chicago's municipal elections are non-partisan, but none of the candidates on the ballot Tuesday called themselves Republicans. Still, Lightfoot sought to portray Vallas that way. He'd attacked her record on crime early in the campaign and was backed by the conservative police union.
Johnson, meanwhile, ate away at Lightfoot's support among progressives. He once advocated reducing police funding, but has backtracked from that message more recently, arguing that he meant he wants to increase funding for other priorities such as mental health treatment.
"Lori Lightfoot hasn't made Chicago safer, but I will," he said in an ad. "It's time to get smart, not just tough."
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect that an elected Chicago mayor hasn't lost in more than 30 years.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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Bye bye Betelgeuse. No Daley tenure for you............
I'm mixed on her tenure as mayor, definitely not the Daley machines (poppa and son). She did run her re-election campaign somewhat like the Richards, laid low, not many commercials or radio spots until maybe a week or two before then a few jabs here and there against the opponents. That only works in Daley-world.
Jane Byrne the last Mayor to not win re-election. And she got in because of the 1979 snow storm and "decisions" made during that storm by Bilandic. Ever since then it seemed as long as Mayor kept main streets plowed and public transpo running they would get re-elected. And with our last few winters being pretty mild for this area, Lightfoot couldn't use that as a crutch and the ridiculous crime rates, especially of late with the car-jackings / killings of ride-share people, too much to overcome.
Saw on another article where she is blaming her loss on her race and gender. Just another sore loser trying to justify her losing by pulling the race and gender card to avoid admitting the totally abysmal job she did as mayor. Glad to see she lost.
16% as an incumbent. It seems impossible to do so poorly.
Begs the question what on Earth was the 16% thinking?
Rumor has it the prisons were forcing inmates to vote for her.
The hope is somebody is elected that cares for the people of Chicago instead of politics. Trash like here should be taken out frequently.
This morning she's already pushing that she lost because of race and gender. Her words are she lost because she's a black woman in America.
It couldn't be due to the fact she has exhibited the epitome of "The Peter Principle". /s
Basically, a person rises to the height of their own incompetence. I'm surprised you weren't familiar with the term. It's been around for a long time.
Yeah, one forgets she was elected as a white man.
I just put that article up.
Have they figured out her "gender?"
I think they just classify her as "Pat" (think SNL)
It's just hard to figure why anyone would want her reelected.
The city's budget deficit exploded under her tenure. She failed to stem the violent crime. She let protests run out of control. She seemed helpless to do anything about Covid or labor issues. Where does anyone look at her term and say, "By golly, we need more of that!"
For some odd reason, some people just identify with losers!
It certainly seems like a terrible run.
But I don't live in or near Chicago, so I kinda wonder what else is going on that may be making her job more difficult than normal.