Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot fails in re-election bid

Rivals Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson secure run-off spots.

Lori Lightfoot concedes on Tuesday night. Picture: AFP

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot lost her re-election bid by failing to garner enough votes to make a run-off election, a stunning fall for a candidate who had won all 50 of the city’s wards four years ago but had sparred with a powerful teacher’s union and been under fire for her response to rising crime.

The Associated Press declared on Tuesday night that Paul Vallas, a more moderate Democrat who had won the support of the city’s police union, and Brandon Johnson, a liberal teacher’s union organiser, secured the two spots in April’s run-off election.

Ms Lightfoot, who ran in third place, conceded the race shortly before 9pm, well before all votes were counted. Ms Lightfoot told supporters that she had called Mr Vallas and Johnson to congratulate them and that she appreciated the love her supporters had shown her during the campaign.

After battling a pandemic, the teachers union and crime in the city, Ms Lightfoot, 60, faced a large field of opponents, with challengers on the left and right of her politically.

Mr Vallas, a former public school executive, Mr Johnson, a Cook County Board Commissioner, and Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, who serves in the US congress, were her main challengers. Mr Garcia was in fourth place on Tuesday night.

“I am a lifelong democrat,” Mr Vallas said, listing what he said were his progressive credentials, and reiterating his focus on public safety and changing the city’s public schools as his top priorities.

Mr Vallas also said if elected he would focus on the entire city, including those areas that have been neglected.

“I will not be a successful mayor until I’ve reversed the generations of disinvestments in Chicago’s poorest communities,” he said.

Mr Vallas, 69, the grandson of Greek immigrants, served in the state legislature and then in the administration of longtime mayor Richard M. Daley, including as head of Chicago’s public schools before running schools in other major cities. He has taken a tough-on-crime stance in the election and has staked out the wide-open political space to the right of Ms Lightfoot. He has the backing of the Chicago police union, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7.

The police union didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Mr Johnson, 46, is the son of a pastor and one of 10 siblings. The African-American candidate was a public school teacher and was an organiser with the Chicago Teachers Union. The union has endorsed Mr Johnson and opposes Ms Lightfoot after battling her over the past few years on contract disputes and return-to-classroom issues during the pandemic. Mr Johnson was elected a county commissioner in 2018, where he backed an ordinance that prohibited housing discrimination against formerly incarcerated people.

Mr García, 66, ran an unsuccessful campaign for mayor against Rahm Emanuel in 2015 before turning to national politics. He was elected to congress in 2018 and has long embraced his Mexican-American heritage and support of progressive issues. He entered the mayoral race after securing another term in the US House of Representatives in November.

Ms Lightfoot, a former federal prosecutor, was elected in 2019, winning all 50 wards, and becoming the city’s first mayor who is black, female and openly gay. But the pandemic and spats with unions, along with increased crime rates in the city, have caused her popularity to fall. One of her primary messages this campaign season is that the pandemic was among the many obstacles she was forced to overcome as mayor and that the city would benefit from a steady hand rather than another change at the top.

Crime has proven to be one of, if not the main, issue in the campaign, with Mr Vallas pledging to crack down on violence in the city.

The Wall Street Journal