ChicagoAmerica’s mayoral race, a fierce campaign rife with controversies and missteps, from insults to gnomes to accusations of rogue Democrats, has come to an end. Tuesday with no candidate winning a majority of the vote, placing Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson in a runoff to be resolved in April.
incumbent mayor Lori Lightfoot conceded defeat in the race on Tuesday night as it became increasingly clear that voters had rejected her offer for a second term in office. “I stand here with my head held high,” she said in her concession speech.
A vote is expected, with Windy City experts predicting that more than half of the nine candidates—all claiming to be Democrats in a nonpartisan race—have chance of shortlisting the top two qualified for the voting round, but practically no one could bring in more than 50 percent of the vote on Tuesday.
Lightfoot won just over 16 percent of the vote to lose her place in the April ballot—something that could happen in the run-up to election day. Much poll since February has Lightfoot, the first Black woman and first openly LGBTQ person to become mayor of Chicago, with only about 18 percent of the vote.
The close race, revolving around crime and crime awareness in the city, has led to a series of embarrassing blunders by the leaders.
In January, Lightfoot was charged with abuse of power in her office when her campaign email explosion for teachers in Chicago offering internship credits to students who volunteered for her campaign. The email, which the mayor later admitted was a “flaw”, was sent specifically to children with a “strong commitment to Democratic ideals”.
More recently, Lightfoot – one of seven Black candidates in Tuesday’s race – oddly remarked during a speech south of the predominantly black city, that the tri should only stay home if they don’t vote for her.
Lightfoot, who was quick to respond to her comments, hinted that she was the only Black candidate with a chance of making it to the finalists and that voters would be stuck with Paul Vallas, white, or Jesús “Chuy” García, who was of Hispanic descent, if they had not voted for her.
“If you want them to control your faith and your destiny, then stay home,” Lightfoot said on Feb. 18. “Then don’t vote.”
Twitter/Jesús “Chuy” García
It’s not the only clumsy appeal to racial politics in a city almost equal white, black and spanish.
ONE Chicago Court examine the social media accounts of Vallas, the former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, who consistently claims to be a “lifetime Democrat” despite promoting more conservative policing policies , revealed that he regularly “likes” offensive and racist posts about Lightfoot.
Three posts were liked by Vallas’ Twitter account calling Lightfoot, a lesbian, “Larry.”
“I bet Larry Lightfoot is with his family today,” one of those posts said, written in response to Vallas shouting out first responders on Father’s Day.
Other posts insulted Lightfoot’s height, calling her a “dwarf” and her looks, liking one that read: “Trust has eroded like her hairline. !” Vallas’ account also liked a post implying that Lightfoot only hired Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown because he was Black.
“Other candidates are more qualified, but they are not black. Lightfoot is a racist, big news,” the tweet read.
Vallas, who has long taken to social media to share crime and school manifestos, claimed it was a mystery employee who liked the posts. He has since apologized and has since “disliked” the posts, many of which predate his entry into the race.
Vallas, who finished ninth in the 2019 election, has been one of Lightfoot’s loudest critics since her first day in office, campaigning for Chicago as a “crisis city” in need of more policemen to fight the rising crime.
With multiple contenders, Vallas bar, ideologically aligned, Lightfoot has to be creative in the way she attacks her opponents.
She ran ads trying Binds García to Disgraced Crypto CEO Sam Bankman-Friedwhile criticizing candidate Brandon Johnson — a Cook County Commissioner and employee of the Chicago Teachers Association who received the association’s coveted endorsement — for wanting to police budget cuts. She also hit out at Chicago businessman Willie Wilson, known for Free petrol for the people of Chicago when prices peaked last summer, for filling his campaign coffers with 5 million dollars of his own money to stay relevant in the race.
She also frequently took aim at Vallas, hinting that he called himself a Democrat to win over left-leaning Chicago voters who were in fact a Republican. She also accused him of living outside the city limits.
Lightfoot also frequently referred to a 2009 interview in which Vallas said he was “more of a Republican now than a Democrat.” In the same interview, he said that he does not support abortion rights for religious reasons and that he is a fan of Rudy Giuliani politics. Lightfoot took clips from that interview in an ad against Vallas, one of which ended with: “Paul Vallas is a Republican. Just ask him.”
Light feet, ai The New York Times wrote last month has an “uncanny ability to make political enemies,” she herself spent the entire campaign attacking. Opponents accuse her of failing to keep her promise to reduce violent crime—since then soaring to generational highs—and reminded her of the many clashes with labor unions and with city council members, including a feud in which she allegedly claims to “have the biggest cock in Chicago.”
To combat these attacks, Lightfoot made 180 from its 2019 campaign. Back then, the former prosecutor described himself as a political outsider who vowed to make Chicago safer and attract more people to the city. This time around, Lightfoot focused on her experience leading Chicago, specifically through the COVID pandemic, while highlighting her progress in addressing affordable housing issues. Cheap of the city.
“The world is very different than it was four years ago,” Lightfoot said during a campaign last week. “I believe I’m still the right person and I think voters will recognize that, but we’ve been through a lot. We cannot go back.”
The constant stream of negative advertising that dominated Chicago this year will extend for another 35 days, with the mayoral race—the third time in a row in which a single candidate has won outright—concluding. ends on April 4.
