Lori Lightfoot elected Chicago's first black female mayor

Lori Lightfoot, a former federal prosector, won Chicago's mayoral election on Tuesday, becoming the city's first black female mayor.

She defeated Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Board president and chair of the Cook County Democratic Party. Lightfoot, 56, is the second woman to be elected mayor of Chicago, after Jane Byrne, who served one term from 1979 to 1983. This was Lightfoot's first run for office, and with her win, Chicago is now the largest city in the U.S. to ever elect an openly gay mayor.

In September, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he would not seek a third term, and Lightfoot and Preckwinkle beat out 12 other candidates in February's first-round election.

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