Due to her staggering defeat in the mayoral election race for Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot has elected to play both the race and gender cards as a way to complain about why she failed to secure reelection.
Lightfoot finished well behind former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas, who managed to get a total of 34% of the vote once 94% of the votes were counted, and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, who managed to secure 20% of the total vote. Lightfoot received just a shocking 17% of the vote. This result will see Johnson and Vallas taking part in a runoff race slated for April 4.
When asked by a local reporter in the wake of her concession speech if she had been treated unfairly because of her gender and race, Lightfoot, who is also gay, answered, “I’m a black woman in America. Of course.”
Lightfoot was first elected to serve as mayor back in 2019 but has become the first mayor of Chicago in over four decades to lose a bid for reelection. Crime in Chicago has spiked close to 52% since 2022 and well over 100% since 2021.
Back in 2021, Lightfoot was asked, “In recent months, there have been questions raised about your temperament and your reaction to criticism – a Tribune editorial used the term irascible – how much of this do you think might have to do with the fact that you’re a woman and specifically a black woman?”
“About 99 percent of it,” Lightfoot answered, going on, “Look at my predecessors. Did people say that Rich Daly held tea sessions with people that he didn’t disagree on? Rahm Emmanuel was a polite guy who was a uniter? No. Women and people of color are always held to a different standard. I understand that. I’ve known that my whole life.”
Lightfoot’s time in office has been plagued with a large amount of controversy. One report from the local outlet Chicago Tribune highlighted that as of May 31, 2020, as the riots following the death of George Floyd plagued the city, Alderman Pat Dowell stated that police officials were not “doing a damn thing” and “letting these folks loot.”
Alderman Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez stated to Lightfoot that there were a large number of people downtown who were not looting, asking Lightfoot if the Chicago Transit Authority could start once again so they could leave. Lightfoot fired back that these people could just go west and ride the Blue Line or north to find the Brown Line.
