Last updated on August 4th, 2023 at 05:37 pm
Chicago All Set To Elect First Black Female Mayor
Source: @ToniPreckwinkle
Chicago is all ready to elect their first black woman mayor. Tony Preckwinkle and Lori Lightfoot will face each other for the Mayor in a runoff election.
Both the candidates are favorite to win the campaign. But, only the one between Preckwinkle and Lightfoot will be elected as the new mayor of Chicago to replace Rahm Emanuel. Whoever wins, Chicago will get their first African-American female mayor. Lori Lightfoot who is the first openly lesbian candidate in the history of Chicago mayoral elections might be up front in the race as she finished first in the February election.
However, Toni Preckwinkle drove controversy after her name was dragged into a major corruption scandal involving Chicago alderman Ed Burke during her campaign. Ed Burke allegedly forced fast-food executive Shoukat Dhanani to make an illegal $10,000 donation to Preckwinkle campaign. Preckwinkle ultimately returned over $100,000 that had been raised by Burke. However, it was proved that she had already met Burke before. Her opponent, Lightfoot ran a television advertisement criticizing Chico, Daley, Mendoza, and Preckwinkle as the "Burke Four" for their connections to the disgraced alderman.
The 72-years old Tony Preckwinkle is currently the Cook County Board President in Cook County, Illinois. She is the first female to be elected as Cook County Board President. She was elected in the position in 2010 defeating Republican nominee, Roger Keats. She received two-thirds of the total vote in the general election. Previously, she was the 4th ward alderman of Chicago. She became the alderman defeating the incumbent, Timothy C. Evans on the third attempt in 1992.
Source: @LightfootForChi
The 56-years old lawyer Lori Lightfoot was the President of the Chicago Police Board from 2015 to 2018. Previously, she has worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. She also worked as the chief administrator of the Chicago Police Department Office of Professional Standards in 2002. She later worked with the Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications. She then became the deputy chief of the Chicago Department of Procurement Services. She has also practiced her law. She had previously represented Republicans in two cases protesting Democratic gerrymandering, defended Chicago police officer against charges of physical assault, defended the Chicago city against charges brought by the family of a mentally ill woman. She later became the President of the Chicago Police Board. Mayor replaced Demetrius Carney with Lightfoot. She was re-appointed to a second term as president of the Police Board in 2017. But, she announced her candidacy for mayor of Chicago in May 2018.