Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks to the media on February 1, 2023 Photo:CNN
Lori Lightfoot, the mayor of Chicago, was unsuccessful in winning re-election after receiving criticism for the city’s high crime rate during the election campaign.
She served as mayor of the third-largest city in America for the first time as a black woman and the first openly gay individual.
Two Democratic opponents, who will face off in a runoff next month, accepted the Democrat’s loss on Tuesday.
Ms. Lightfoot was the city’s first one-term mayor in forty years.
She was one of nine candidates, all Democrats, in the crowded first round of the election.
Ms Lightfoot won her first election for mayor by a large margin in 2019 by positioning herself as a political outsider keen to tackle corruption.
During her re-election campaign, she touted her record of supporting workers, increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour, but the former prosecutor found herself assailed by rivals over the city’s crime rate.
There were a number of contenders for the position of municipal police review board chairman Lightfoot, a former prosecutor. They attacked her for a rise in crime that started during the COVID-19 pandemic and for having an overly combative leadership style.
Tuesday night, Lightfoot addressed his fans and referred to being mayor of Chicago as “the honor of a lifetime.”
There were a number of contenders for the position of municipal police review board chairman Lightfoot, a former prosecutor.
Lightfoot said, “We fought the correct fights and we put this city on a better path.
She advised other mayors across the nation to not be afraid to take risks.
Writing by Adeniyi Bakare