Lori Lightfoot made history as the first Black, openly gay female mayor of Chicago, but her time in office was marred by controversy and clashes with city officials. In Tuesday’s mayoral primary, Lightfoot conceded defeat to two Democratic challengers who will face off in an April run-off to be the next mayor of Chicago.
During her tenure, Lightfoot faced increasing levels of violent crime in Chicago, leading a city beset by chronic gun violence, shootings, homicides, carjackings, and theft. Despite efforts to stem high crime rates, shootings and homicides continued to spike, with Chicago ending 2022 with 695 homicides, a decrease from 804 in 2021 but still alarmingly high.
Lightfoot also faced criticism for her handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic fallout. She was part of a long-running feud with the city’s powerful teachers’ union over compensation, class sizes, and other issues plaguing Chicago’s public education system. The rift between Lightfoot and the union came to a head in 2019 when the union declared an 11-day strike, the longest in decades, just a few months into Lightfoot’s mayoral term.
Despite these challenges, Lightfoot stood up for the LGBTQ+ community multiple times during her time in office, and faced down homophobia and hate in her first election race. She also confronted several Chicago city council members who wondered if a proposal to set aside a portion of city contracts for LGBTQ-owned businesses would result in additional political scandal.
Lightfoot’s single term as mayor will be remembered as one of the most fraught in the city’s recent history. She is the first incumbent Chicago mayor in 40 years to lose re-election, and will play out her term, which ends in May