Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot received only 16.4% of the vote on Tuesday night’s election, falling far behind the former head of Chicago Public Schools Paul Vallas, and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson.
“Obviously, we didn’t win the election. But I stand here with my head held high and my heart full of thanks,” Lightfoot told supporters after she announced defeat.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot hits multiple diversity checkmarks, having been the first black woman and openly gay person to ever serve as mayor of Chicago. However, Lightfoot managed to insert race into her election loss reasoning.
“I am a black woman — let’s not forget,” Lightfoot, 60, told The New Yorker. “Certain folks, frankly, don’t support us in leadership roles.”
This comment falls short in evidence when Lightfoot had the majority vote at one time, placing her in the leadership role. Under her leadership, promises she made back in 2019 shooting towards making Chicago the safest big city in the country were not fulfilled – quite the opposite.
Chicago’s crime rate spiked, 40% since her inaugural address to end the “epidemic of gun violence that devastates families, shatters communities, holds children hostage to fear in their own homes,” according to Lightfoot.
According to the Chicago Tribune, “Homicides, mostly from gun violence, spiked dramatically in 2020 and 2021 from 500 murders in 2019 to 776 and 804 in the next two years, respectively. Shootings and carjackings also skyrocketed.”
The city also saw more than 20,000 cases of theft in 2022 alone, according to the police department’s report.
Let’s also not forget her draconian leadership during the 2020 pandemic, where she pressured residents to stay home, close up shop and get vaccinated or face major consequences. Rather than trying to work with Chicagoans, she led in the destruction of family businesses and livelihoods.
Never forget this loser. Bye bye Beetlejuice. pic.twitter.com/SAjX4m8sdY
— 🇺🇸Brian🇺🇸 (@BDMtoday) March 1, 2023
Paul Vallas, 69, and Brandon Johnson, 46, will face off five weeks from now in the April 4 runoff to decide who will become the 57th mayor of Chicago.
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