Lori Lightfoot (right) with wife Amy Eshleman (left) and daughter Vivian
CHICAGO – Tuesday night, Chicagoans overwhelmingly expressed their demand for change by electing as their mayor Lori Lightfoot. Lightfoot is an attorney that expressed strong progressive political views during the many debates she had with her opponent Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. Both are Democrats.
Preckwinkle's perceived connections with the corrupt Chicago Machine and indicted longtime Chicago alderman Ed Burke was rejected soundly. Lightfoot won all 50 Chicago wards, including Preckwinkle's own, in a devastating 73 to 26 point decision.
Lightfoot will be Chicago's first African-American lesbian mayor – and she will be working with a city council that includes strong, invigorated, progressive voices that will demand change – but likely to speed up the city's already stunning swing to the Left.
In conversations over the weekend, Republican leaders in Chicago expressed their favor for Lightfoot over Preckwinkle – much stemming from Preckwinkle's soda tax and links to Chicago Machine corruption.
