
<p>When Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot entered the race in 2019, she was not expected to be the winner. ; </p>



<p>In the first round of balloting, she faced two major and much better-known opponents – former Secretary of Commerce Bill Daley, the son of the legendary Mayor Richard J. Daley, brother of Mayor Richard M. Daley, and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. ; </p>



<p>It was widely predicted that Daley would easily garner more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round – avoiding a runoff. ; After all, this was Chicago where “Mayor Daley” was considered one word.</p>



<p>That did not happen, however. ; In a major turn of events, Daley did not reach the 50 percent threshold. ; In fact, he did not even make it into the top two to qualify for the runoff. ; He was out. ; It was shocking in a city where Daleys never lose.</p>



<p>The runoff was between Preckwinkle and the little-known Lori Lightfoot, president of the Police Board. ; That had the odds makers betting heavily on Preckwinkle. ; Chicago has had black mayors and a woman mayor, but never an openly gay mayor.</p>



<p>Lightfoot’s sexual preference was believed to be a stumbling block among the white – largely Catholic – Democrat voters&#8211; and a high percentage of black Baptist voters. ; (I have to digress here. ; This was another example of how the left and the media assume the American people are racists and homophobes. ; And another example of just how wrong they are.)</p>



<p>In the final round, the people of Chicago opted for change. ; They elected outsider Lightfoot over the establishment’s Preckwinkle.</p>



<p>Lightfoot had a good start, but it did not last long. ; Her handling of the Covid-19 Pandemic and the George Floyd riots were getting more criticism than praise. ; Her generally far-left approach to issues ran across the grain of a lot of Chicagoans. ; One might say that Lightfoot was heavy-handed. ; (Sorry about that.) ; Crime and taxes were also driving voters and employers out of the Windy City.</p>



<p>Lightfoot engaged in a number of embarrassing theatrics – singing, dancing, and putting on costumes. Apparently, she did not know that it is only in the circus that you send in the clowns during a disaster. ; And finally, there was that ever-present crime issue that went from god-awful to disastrous during her term. It was so bad that Lightfoot, the former president of the Police Board, lost the police union endorsement to an opponent, Paul Vallas.</p>



<p>Lightfoot came into the 2023 mayoral election as an underdog. ; Polling consistently showed her coming in third against former school board chief Paul Vallas and teacher union official Brandon Johnson. ; (No, his slogan was not “Let’s go, Brandon.”)</p>



<p>When the result came in, it was the first time in 40 years that an incumbent Chicago mayor was ousted – and that was Mayor Jane Byrne in 1983. ; She had ousted incumbent Mayor Michael Bilandic four years earlier. ; Putting aside the Bilandic/Byrne defeats, the previous time an incumbent Chicago mayor was defeated was in 1955 when a young Richard J. Daley knocked out Mayor Martin Kennelly in the Democrat primary.</p>



<p>What is amazing about this round was the miserably poor showing by Lightfoot. ; She only got 17 percent of the vote. ; What? ; That means that only one out of seven voters cast a ballot for the incumbent. ; That is not a defeat. ; That is a humiliation.</p>



<p>Vallas got the lion’s share of the vote at 34 percent. ; Johnson got 20 percent. ; That does not mean that Vallas has the advantage. ; In fact, he is the underdog for the final round. ; By most analysis, the Lightfoot voters are likely to go with Johnson – as are the majority of the 29 percent of voters who split among the six other candidates. ; ;</p>



<p>But … you cannot completely count out Vallas. ; Chicago Voters have a history of surprising results. ; Stay tuned.</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

Why Chicago Mayor Lightfoot Lost
