CHICAGO (AP) — Lori Lightfoot made history as the primary Black woman and first openly gay person to function Chicago mayor, sailing to victory 4 years ago as an outsider who vowed to rid City Hall of corruption and deliver a safer, more equitable city.
But her bid for a second term may be very much in query amid concerns about continuing high crime within the nation’s third-largest city and accusations that she is overly hostile and sometimes flat-out mean — criticism she has dismissed as sexist and racist smears against a troublesome leader who’s enthusiastic about Chicago.
Ahead of a crowded Feb. 28 election, Lightfoot has been forced to go on the defensive in a heated race that has was each a personality contest and a policy debate.
“Now we have began to vary Chicago around for the higher,” Lightfoot said during a recent debate. “I need to complete the job that now we have began.”
With nine candidates within the race, it’s unlikely that anyone will exceed the 50% threshold needed to win the officially nonpartisan election outright. Meaning the winner is more likely to be decided in an April 4 runoff between the highest two vote-getters.
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Were she to lose, Lightfoot can be the primary Chicago mayor in a long time to run for reelection and fail. And in contrast to her predecessors, Lightfoot doesn’t enjoy a fundraising advantage over her top rivals.
The election can be an early test this yr of how crime aspects into mayoral races in big-city Democratic strongholds. Other major cities electing mayors this yr, including Philadelphia and Atlanta, are also grappling with the right way to balance progressive ideals with residents’ day-to-day concerns about keeping their families protected.
Lightfoot, a former federal prosecutor who had never before run for political office, emerged from a crowded field in 2019 to defeat much better known candidates with support from voters weary of political corruption and coverups.
She says her administration has made concrete progress on critical issues, from putting money into neighborhoods which have seen a long time of disinvestment to taking illegal guns off the streets. But she notes that the last 4 years have not been easy, with a world pandemic and protests over police violence that she said represented “among the hardest times that we’ve ever faced” in Chicago.
Lightfoot’s handling of crises has sometimes drawn praise, resembling when she ordered lockdowns early within the coronavirus pandemic and a picture of the stern-faced mayor became a preferred meme. But at other times, Lightfoot’s actions have been questioned.
After the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police prompted protests and civil unrest, including smashing of storefront windows and fires, Lightfoot ordered the town to boost drawbridges over the Chicago River in an try to block protesters from entering the downtown area. Some in the town saw it as elitist, a way of protecting upscale parts of the highly segregated city on the expense of neighborhoods with struggling business districts that also suffered serious damage.
But Lightfoot has taken essentially the most heat for increased crime, with homicides hitting a 25-year high in 2021 with roughly 800. Lightfoot says she has a plan that’s working, noting that homicides decreased last yr. But they’re still higher than when she took office, and concerns have grown about other violent crime in the town, including carjackings.
“We’ve made progress year-over-year,” Lightfoot said. “But I recognize that individuals in the town don’t feel protected.”
Lightfoot’s most formidable opponent could also be two-term U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, a former member of the Chicago City Council, state Senate and county board who lost a runoff eight years ago against then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Lightfoot has run TV ads accusing Garcia of corruption, noting his House campaign took money from Sam Bankman-Fried, the previous CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX accused of massive financial fraud. Garcia said he didn’t know Bankman-Fried, and his campaign returned direct contributions.
Garcia touts his record of working with communities across the town and playing well with others in a way that he says Lightfoot doesn’t.
“She is combative, unnecessarily. She is excessive,” Garcia said.
Elected as a reform-minded outsider who would rid the town of pay-to-play politics, Lightfoot was criticized when a campaign staffer sent out an email to public school teachers looking for students to volunteer for the campaign in exchange for sophistication credit. Lightfoot apologized, calling it a mistake. Inspectors general are reviewing for possible policy violations.
A few of Lightfoot’s biggest battles have been with the Chicago Teachers Union, which backed her first run for mayor. The 2 sides butted heads during an 11-day teachers strike in 2019 and bickered over returning to in-school instruction throughout the pandemic.
This yr, the teachers union has endorsed Lightfoot rival Brandon Johnson, a Cook County commissioner and former Chicago teacher and union organizer. Johnson, who has criticized Lightfoot for running as a progressive after which breaking campaign guarantees, desires to shift money away from the police department and toward higher mental health care and other services for long-neglected neighborhoods just like the one where he lives on the town’s West Side.
Lightfoot has also clashed with the Chicago police union, the Fraternal Order of Police. At a City Council meeting, Lightfoot was caught on a microphone referring to a union leader as “this FOP clown.”
The police union has endorsed mayoral candidate Paul Vallas, a former city budget director and schools leader who served as an adviser to the police union during negotiations with City Hall. He’s repeatedly called for more law enforcement officials, saying, “Crime is uncontrolled.”
Lightfoot has criticized Vallas as a Republican in disguise, noting he has received campaign contributions from GOP donors. Her campaign blasted him for being too cozy with the police union, calling its leader a “notorious bigot” and supporter of former President Donald Trump.
Lightfoot has increased her support in some areas of the town. Former Rep. Bobby Rush, a serious critic during her first campaign turned distinguished booster this yr, joined Reps. Danny Davis and Robin Kelly — whose districts include predominantly Black neighborhoods — in praising her commitment to investing within the areas. Lightfoot maintained that commitment, Rush said, even “under the hardest of circumstances.”
The mayor points to a record of achievements that include pushing through a $15 minimum wage that labor unions had looked for years and approval of a long-sought casino that’s expected to bring thousands and thousands in revenue and 1000’s of jobs. She also has budgeted over $3 million to guard access to abortion, including for individuals who travel to Chicago from states where the procedure is illegitimate.
Along with Garcia, Vallas and Johnson, the opposite candidates running are wealthy businessman Willie Wilson, Chicago City Council members Sophia King and Roderick Sawyer, activist Ja’Mal Green and state Rep. Kambium “Kam” Buckner.
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