*Lori Lightfoot, a former federal prosecutor, is now the new mayor-elect of Chicago. She is the first black female and first openly gay person to head the government of the 3rd-largest city in the US.
On Tuesday after the votes were counted, Lightfoot defeated Toni Preckwinkle, who served in the City Council for 19 years before becoming Cook County Board president. Interestingly, Lightfoot has never been elected to public office.
It’s a point that’s highlighted in Crain’s Chicago Business‘ report on the election and her victory:
Lori Lightfoot never worked for a ward committeeman. She never was a ward committeeman. She didn’t grow up here. She’s in a same-sex marriage.
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Rahm Emanuel lumped her among the contenders he said had no chance of succeeding him as mayor, when she had declared her intention to run months before he opted out of the race in September.
But in a “change” election, Mayor-elect Lightfoot’s outsider cred prevailed. Now, the question is whether it gives her a chance to kill the Chicago Way, or whether she’ll be taken captive like her reform-mouthing predecessors.
CRITICS DIVIDED OVER JORDAN PEELE’S ‘THE TWILIGHT ZONE’ – HERE’S WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
There’s a lot MORE to the story. Get it at Crain’s Chicago Business.
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