The result was a resounding defeat that reflected widespread dissatisfaction from voters over her handling of crime. Challengers to her political left and right advanced to a runoff.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago lost her bid for a second term on Tuesday, a resounding defeat that reflected widespread dissatisfaction from voters over her handling of crime and policing in the nation’s third-largest city.
Four years ago, Ms. Lightfoot made history as the first Black woman to be elected mayor of Chicago when she swept all 50 of the city’s wards. But she saw her popularity plunge during the coronavirus pandemic as Chicago suffered a spike in violent crime, with looting and destruction on its famed Magnificent Mile in 2020.
The two candidates to emerge from Tuesday’s first round of voting and advance to an April 4 runoff, according to The Associated Press, were Paul Vallas, a former public schools executive, and Brandon Johnson, a county board commissioner.
Ms. Lightfoot, who is the first sitting mayor in Chicago since 1989 to lose re-election, said in a concession speech late Tuesday that she “will be rooting and praying for our next mayor to deliver for the people of this city for years to come.”
“I stand here with my head held high and a heart full of gratitude,” Ms. Lightfoot said.
With an estimated 94 percent of ballots counted as of Tuesday night, Mr. Vallas had won 34 percent of the vote, and Mr. Johnson 20 percent.
The race showcased the political divide that has emerged in some of America’s largest, most liberal cities, where hard-on-crime policies have increasingly resonated with voters. But it also demonstrated the uniquely Chicago peril of leading the city with no natural base or ward to count on for loyal support in tough times: Ms. Lightfoot, an Ohio native, had never held elective office before becoming mayor.
The contest for mayor is now narrowed to two candidates with starkly different views on policing and education. Mr. Vallas has portrayed Chicago as being in a state of turmoil under Ms. Lightfoot’s leadership. With an endorsement from the local Fraternal Order of Police, he has run an aggressive campaign arguing that he can make the city safer, calling for bolstering the police force, improving arrest rates for serious crimes and expanding charter schools.
“The city clearly is in crisis and people want a crisis manager who can come in and focus on getting things done,” Mr. Vallas said after casting his ballot in an elementary school gym on the South Side on Tuesday.
Mr. Johnson, 46, an educator who was endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union, staked out a position to the left of Ms. Lightfoot, at one point suggesting that he agreed with the movement to reduce funding to police departments, though he later backtracked.
At a polling place on Tuesday, Serena Mascio, 40, said she moved to Chicago from the suburbs in 2017 and was voting for mayor in the city for the first time.
“I’m voting for Brandon Johnson because instead of more police, he’s focused on more mental health needs,” she said. “He brings a different perspective.”
Ms. Lightfoot, whose victory four years ago also made her the first openly gay person to lead Chicago, was challenged on the campaign trail by residents unimpressed with her handling of crime, an issue that loomed above all others in the campaign.
Mr. Johnson, who was one of seven Black candidates, won over many political progressives, while Mr. Vallas consolidated support in more conservative neighborhoods. Mr. Vallas was the only white candidate in the race; Chicago has roughly equal numbers of Black, white and Hispanic residents.
In the days leading up the election, Ms. Lightfoot remained hopeful that she would secure a spot in the runoff, despite a clear loss in support. She told voters that crime was on its way down — homicides and shootings had, in fact, decreased in 2022 from the peak during the pandemic. But in 2022, robberies, thefts and burglaries increased from the year before, leaving many Chicagoans unsettled about the direction of the city.