Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Attributes Election Loss to Race: ‘I’m a Black Woman in America’

Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot pinned the blame for her election loss on her race and gender on Tuesday night, telling reporters that she believed she was treated inequitably in her reelection bid.

Lightfoot garnered just 17.1% of the vote and third place in the election, failing to advance to a runoff that will pit two more Democrats, Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson, against each other.

Asked by a reporter after her concession address if she had been treated unfairly over the course of the campaign, she replied, “I’m a black woman in America — of course.”

Lightfoot had previously expressed the same sentiment during an interview with The New Yorker in February.

“I am a Black woman—let’s not forget. Certain folks, frankly, don’t support us in leadership roles,” said Lightfoot at the time.

The electorate was apparently less hostile to black female leadership prior to Lightfoot’s mayoralty; the outgoing executive took gold during the first round of the 2019 election before cruising to victory with 73.7 percent of the vote in the runoff between herself and Toni Preckwinkle, also a black woman.

Lightfoot’s tenure has been plagued by a crime wave in the Windy City. In 2018, the last full year before Lightfoot’s tenure in office began, 579 homicides were recorded by the Chicago Police Department. During her three full calendar years in office — 2020, 2021, and 2022 — 776, 802, and 668 people were murdered within the city limits. The 2021 figure marked a new high for the 21st century.

Although Lightfoot presented herself as tough on crime during her reelection campaign, Lightfoot was hampered by her record and outflanked on the issue by Vallas.

A February survey of city residents conducted by Northwestern University found that a majority of both black and white voters called crime the most important political issue to them. In 2020, Lightfoot’s proposal for the city budget called for an $80 million reduction in funding for Chicago police.

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