Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has conceded in her ill-fated bid for a second term as former schools chief Paul Vallas and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson advance to an April 4 runoff.
An elected mayor hasn't been ousted in 40 years, when Jane Byrne, Chicago's first female mayor, was defeated in the 1983 Democratic primary.
In a crowded race with nine candidates, Vallas and Johnson are candidates on opposite ends of the city's debate over crime and policing. Vallas ran to the right of Lightfoot and has focused primarily on public safety. He won the endorsement of Chicago's conservative Fraternal Order of Police and faced accusations from his rivals of being a Republican despite declaring himself a Democrat. Although Johnson, a progressive with the backing of the Chicago Teachers Union, doesn't use "defund the police" rhetoric, he has argued for police resources to be redirected to the city's social service agencies.
Lightfoot, a Democrat first elected in 2019 who led the city through the Covid-19 pandemic, drew scrutiny from voters and the eight challengers in the race for her handling of the city's crime.
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