Chicago’s Lesbian Mayor Lori Lightfoot Resoundingly Loses Reelection

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot won't return for a second term in office as Paul Vallas, a long-time public schools chief, and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson will advance to an April runoff election. Lightfoot was the first Black woman, and the first out gay person to serve as mayor in a major city. She often got pilloried by conservatives in national debates over violence and gun control but rose to prominence as a reformer. She promised a break from the corruption and clubby governance that had long marked Chicago politics.
However, years of contentious brawls over policing, teacher pay, Covid-19 public safety policies, and mounting complaints about long waits in Chicago's public transit system, left Lightfoot vulnerable.