(RepublicanNews.org) – Chicago voters gave unpopular mayor Lori Lightfoot the boot from office on election day Tuesday, February 28th. But none of the candidates reached the city’s 50% threshold required to win the office.
Of the nine total candidates in the February 28th race, only two received enough votes to qualify for a run-off election. Democrats Jesus “Chuy” Garcia and Paul Vallas will face each other in the run-off on April 4th.
While both are Democrats, former Chicago Public Schools CEO Vallas has more conservative views on crime and law and order than his opponent. Vallas was also formerly the city’s budget director.
This may work in Vallas’ favor, as much of Lightfoot’s unpopularity came from the public’s perception that she was very easy on criminals and violent crime.
Chicago achieved its highest murder rate in 25 years under Lightfoot’s leadership, beating out New York City and Los Angeles.
Vallas positioned himself as a “law and order” candidate and received endorsements from Chicago’s police unions. Lightfoot’s relationship with local law enforcement was strained and appeared to lack mutual trust.
Despite the objective numbers showing Chicago’s crime problems, Lightfoot was known to frequently call Chicago a “safe” city. She pointed to her own record handling violent crime and her strategies (which did not work) to control gang violence and gun crime.
Lightfoot conceded her position in a speech on election night, saying she was “rooting and praying” for the city’s next mayor.
Lightfoot’s colleagues often described her as difficult to get along with and demanding. More than once, internal communications from Lightfoot to her staff appeared on social media, seeming to show a difficult boss.
One that garnered significant attention was a memo to staff in which Lightfoot adopted a technique most often used by very young and very online leftists. Lightfoot repeated her demands verbatim several times, appearing to copy and paste the same sentence for emphasis.
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