Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot denied second term as voters choose runoff between two contrasting candidates

(MENAFN) Chicago voters have denied incumbent mayor Lori Lightfoot a second term, instead opting for a runoff between Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson to determine who will become the city's next leader. Lightfoot made history as the first Black woman and first openly gay person to lead Chicago, but after four tumultuous years in office, she failed in her fight for re-election. This marks the first time in 40 years that an incumbent Chicago mayor has been defeated after one term, since Jane Byrne lost to Harold Washington.

With 98 percent of the vote counted, Vallas was leading with 34 percent and Johnson was in second place with 20 percent, while Lightfoot trailed in third place with 17 percent. No other candidate reached double digits. Multiple candidates challenged Lightfoot, hammering her over a spike in crime that began during the COVID-19 pandemic and a leadership style they say is unnecessarily combative.

During a speech to supporters on Tuesday night, Lightfoot called being Chicago's mayor "the honor of a lifetime," and said that regardless of the outcome, they fought the right fights and put the city on a better path. She told fellow mayors around the country not to fear being bold and expressed her hopes that the next mayor would deliver for the people of the city for years to come.

In contrast to Lightfoot's leadership style, the April runoff will offer voters two starkly contrasting options. Vallas served as an adviser to what CBS Chicago calls "the right-leaning" Fraternal Order of Police during its negotiations with Lightfoot's administration. He has called for adding hundreds of police officers to patrol the city, saying that crime is out of control and morale among officers has sunk to a new low during Lightfoot's tenure. Vallas has also stated that the city needs to "take the handcuffs" off officers by easing restrictions on police foot pursuits and vehicle chases.

On the other hand, Johnson, a Cook County commissioner, received about $1 million from the Chicago Teachers Union for his campaign and had support from several other progressive organizations, including United Working Families. The former teacher and union organizer has argued that the answer to addressing crime is not more money for police but more investment in mental health care, education, jobs, and affordable housing. He was accused by rivals such as Lightfoot of wanting to defund the police, although Johnson has avoided using the word "defund" during the race. His campaign says he doesn't want to cut the number of police officers. However, in a 2020 radio interview, Johnson said that defunding is not just a slogan but "an actual real political goal," and he sponsored a non-binding resolution on the county board to redirect money from policing and jails to social services.

Lightfoot criticized Vallas as too conservative for Chicago and for welcoming support from the police union's controversial leader, who defended the January 6 insurrectionists at the Capitol and equated Lightfoot's vaccine mandate for city workers to the Holocaust. The April runoff will give Chicago voters the opportunity to decide between these two very different candidates and their visions for the city's future.

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