Lori Lightfoot was criticized by rivals for the rising crime rate in the city.
Washington:
US media reported that Lori Lightfoot, Chicago’s first black woman and openly gay mayor, became the first leader of the sprawling Midwestern city not to win re-election in 40 years.
Lightfoot, criticized by rivals for rising crime rates in the city, acknowledged the surprise defeat, telling supporters that she was “praying for our next mayor to deliver deliverance for the people of the city for years to come”. And she was praying.”
Paul Vallas, the former chief executive of Chicago Public Schools, will now face Cook County commissioner and former teacher Brandon Johnson in the second round on April 4, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Vallas is supported by the local police union, while Johnson is supported by the Chicago Teachers Union.
Lightfoot’s defeat was seen as a setback in the nation’s third-largest city, which has returned mayors to power for decades. He won every ward in the city in 2019, but rising crime rates and the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic have shaken his support.
He told a crowd of supporters, “We know in life, in the end, you don’t always win the battle. But you never regret taking the mighty and bringing the light.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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