Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson will face off in a race for the post of Mayor of the future for Chicago after Chicago voters on Tuesday refused the incumbent Lori Lightfoot a second term and issued a warning to a mayor who set the bar high as the head of the third largest city in the United States.
Lightfoot was the first Black woman and the first openly gay woman to lead the city, was unsuccessful in her campaign for reelection after four turbulent years as a city leader.
This was for the first time in forty years that a elected Chicago Mayor was ousted after a single term, as Jane Byrne lost to Harold Washington, CBS Chicago reported.
With nearly 98% of votes was counted, Vallas was leading with 34% while Johnson was second with 20 percent, the station reported. Lightfoot came in third with 17 percent. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia was fourth with 14 percent. The other candidates did not even make it to double-digits.
Lightfoot who was an ex-prosecutor and the head of a city’s police oversight board had to face many candidates. They made light of the increase in crime which was triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and the leadership style they claim is excessively aggressive.
In a speech to his supporters on Tuesday evening, Lightfoot called being Chicago’s mayor “the honor of a lifetime.”
“Regardless of tonight’s outcome, we fought the right fights and we put this city on a better path,” Lightfoot declared. She advised fellow mayors across the country not to be afraid of being brave.
“We were fierce competitors in these last few months, but I will be rooting and praying for our next mayor to deliver for the people of the city for years to come,” Lightfoot told WBBM. WBBM.
At the celebration of his victory, Vallas noted that Lightfoot was there to express her congratulations and asked the audience to applaud her with applause. In a reference to his campaign pledges to fight criminality, he stated that if elected the candidate would address security issues for the public.
“We will have a safe Chicago. We will make Chicago the safest city in America,” Vallas stated.
The April runoff is expected to give voters two starkly different choices.
Vallas was a consultant to the CBS Chicago calls “the right-leaning” Fraternal Order of Police in its discussions with the administration of Lightfoot. He has proposed adding many police personnel to patrol the city warning that crime is out control, and the morale of police officers has dropped to a new low under Lightfoot’s time in office.
Vallas has stated that the city must “take the handcuffs” off officers by lifting the restrictions regarding police pursuits on foot as well as car chases, the station says.
Johnson who was who was a Cook County commissioner, received approximately $1 million from Chicago Teachers Union for his campaign and received support from numerous other progressive organizations such as United Working Families. A former union worker and teacher claimed that the best way of fighting crime isn’t the increase in police spending, but greater investment in mental health jobs, education, and affordable housing. Johnson was accused by his rivals like Lightfoot who wanted to cut funding for police.
Johnson has stayed clear of the term “defund” during the race and his campaign claims it isn’t in his plans to reduce the police force. However, in a broadcast interview Johnson stated that “defunding” isn’t just a slogan, but “an actual real political goal,” and he also authored non-binding resolutions on the county board to divert funds from jails and policing to social services.
Lightfoot has criticized Vallas as being too conservatism for Chicago and also for receiving support from the union’s controversial leader who stood up for against the January. 6 protesters at the Capitol and compared Lightfoot’s vaccination policy for city workers with the Holocaust.
In the course of her election, Lightfoot touted her record of investing in communities and assisting workers, for example, raising the minimum wage from $15 to $15 per hour. Lightfoot also said that the city has faced unimaginable challenges, such as the pandemic as well as its economic and public security consequences, as well as protests against police policing.
“The world is very different than it was four years ago. I believe that I’m still the right person and I think the voters will validate that, but we’ve been through a lot,” Lightfoot stated at a rally in the City’s West Side during the final days leading up to the election. “We can’t go back.”
Lightfoot became the very first city mayor in an important U.S. city to face his reelection after the pandemic, recession and the rise in crime which has been seen in a variety of cities. These factors affected certain voters when they took their final decisions on Tuesday.
“Lori has had her chance,” said Lonnell Jolly, a 45-year old customer service rep who lives in the West Side and voted for businessman Willie Wilson. “Since Lori Lightfoot has been in office, it seems like crime has gotten worse.”
Lindsey Hegarty, a 30-year-old paralegal who lives in the Chicago’s North Side, said she has voted for Johnson for the reason that “he seemed like the most progressive candidate on issues like policing, mental health” and public transportation.
Race also played a role in the election of candidates who sought votes in the largely divided city that is a tensely divided city between Black, Hispanic and White residents.
Lightfoot has claimed that Vallas of making use of “the ultimate dog whistle” in a statement that it’s focused on “taking back our city,” and of cosying up with President of the Fraternal Order of Police whom she branded an obscene racist. The latest Chicago Tribune story also found the account of Vallas on Twitter was a fan of racist tweets, as well as tweets which mocked Lightfoot’s appearance, and described her as male.
Vallas claimed he was not responsible for the tweets he liked the tweets, which he called “abhorrent,” and suggested an individual had accessed his account.
However, Lightfoot as well as some of her supporters saw a portion of the criticisms she received about her leadership as a result of discrimination against gays, racism and sexism views.
“No other mayor has been asked to change this city within four years,” the city treasurer Melissa Conyears Ervin who is Black and noted that White mayors such as Emanuel or Richard Daley served multiple terms. “When we get in the game, the rules change.”
At a rally on Saturday, Vallas said he is concerned about issues such as the safety of the city’s “demoralized” police department and the increasing number of people “fleeing” the city’s school district.
“It’s all a product of bad leadership,” Vallas declared.
The former director of the city’s budget who also managed schools within Chicago, New Orleans and Philadelphia, Vallas lost a campaign for mayor in 2019. The last time, he’s focused on safety for the people, and has said that police officers who quit the police force under the administration of Lightfoot will be reinstated if elected.
It appears to be a hit with voters, like Antwoin Jackson who is concerned about the increase in the number of crimes. Jackson stated that he voted for Lightfoot in the past, but did not vote for Vallas in the Tuesday election because he believed that Lightfoot “did not hold control over the violence in the communities.” Jackson admitted that he is especially at risk when taking public transportation.
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