Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson will face off in the second round of Chicago’s mayoral race, after voters on Tuesday denied Councilmember Lori Lightfoot a second term, a rebuke of a leader who made history as mayor of the third-largest city. big in the country
Vallas, a former chief of schools backed by the police union, and Johnson, a Chicago Teachers Union-backed Cook County sheriff, advanced to the April 4 runoff after none of the nine candidates won 50. % of votes needed to win in the first round.
Lightfoot, the city’s first black woman and openly gay leader, won in 2019 after vowing to end decades of corruption and shadow deals at City Hall. But her opponents blamed her for a spike in crime in cities across the United States during the pandemic and accused her of being a divisive and confrontational leader.
She is the first Chicago mayor-elect to lose a re-election campaign since 1983, when Jane Byrne, the first woman to lead the city, lost her Democratic primary.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Lightfoot said that being Chicago’s mayor had been “the honor of a lifetime.”
“Regardless of today’s outcome, we fought the right battles and set this city on a better course,” Lightfoot said. He asked his fellow mayors across the country not to be afraid to be bold.
At her celebration party, Vallas pointed out that Lightfoot had called to congratulate him and asked the crowd to give the councilwoman a round of applause. In a reference to his election pledge to fight crime, he said that if he were elected he would work to address public safety issues.
“We will have a safe Chicago. We will make Chicago the safest city in America,” Vallas said.
For his part, Johnson pointed out Tuesday how unlikely his runoff appearance had seemed given how little known he was at the start of the season.
“A few months ago they said they didn’t know who he was. Well, if they didn’t know, now they know,” Johnson said. The candidate thanked the unions that supported him and especially his wife, and told the people, “Chicago, there will still be a black woman in charge.”
Lightfoot’s defeat is unusual in a large city municipal election, where mayors are often re-elected relatively easily. But it’s also an indication of the instability in America’s cities following the COVID-19 pandemic, its economic fallout and spikes in crime in many places.
Public safety has marked other recent votes, such as the one that removed a San Francisco district attorney criticized for his progressive measures. The pandemic could also define mayoral elections in other cities this year, including Philadelphia and Houston, where current leaders are barred from running again due to term limitations.
Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channel Youtube and activate notifications, or follow us on social networks: Facebook, Twitter and instagram the Voice of America.
