Chicago will elect its first black female mayor April 2, after Lori Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle advanced to a runoff election on Tuesday. Lightfoot, a former federal prosecutor, and Preckwinkle, the Cook County Board president, led a field of 14 candidates running to replace Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who is retiring after two terms. The most famous name on the ballot was William Daley, the brother and son of former Chicago mayors Richard M. Daley and Richard J. Daley and, like Emanuel, a former chief of staff to President Barack Obama. Lightfoot is also the first openly gay woman to run for Chicago mayor.
The next Chicago mayor will have to address how best to invest in poor neighborhoods, crime and gun violence, underperforming schools, and pension debt, but two of the main campaign themes were reforming Chicago's police department in the wake of the 2014 Laquan McDonald shooting and fighting corruption and pay-to-play culture at City Hall. At least two dozen Chicago alderman have been convicted of crimes since 1972, The Associated Press notes. Turnout on Tuesday was low, at about 27 percent of registered voters.
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