On Sunday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams dismissed the notion that Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot's reelection defeat was only a warning sign for Democratic mayors, instead referring to it as a "warning sign for the country."
Adams was elected mayor in 2021 following a campaign centered on public safety and combatting growing crime.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams Unfazed by Lori Lightfoot's Defeat
Last week, Lightfoot, elected for the first time in 2019, failed to qualify for one of the two runoff positions. In recent years, Chicago has been the third major city to hold a mayoral race that has challenged Democratic voters' attitudes regarding crime and law enforcement.
In 2020 and 2021, the number of violent incidents in Chicago skyrocketed. According to the Chicago Police Department's 2022 year-end report, while gunshots and homicides fell over the last year, other crimes, such as theft, carjacking, robberies, and burglaries, have climbed.
Adams was questioned on Sunday about criticism from certain Democrats who claim his stance on crime is detrimental to the party and beneficial to the Republicans, CNN reported. Adams also addressed the controversy surrounding his words at last week's interfaith breakfast when he stated, "Don't tell me there is no separation of religion and state. State is the body, church is the heart. When the heart is removed from the body, the body dies."
Lightfoot, 60, became the first sitting mayor in forty years to lose reelection this Monday. Chicagoans instead chose former Chicago Public Schools Director Paul Vallas and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson to face a battle in the runoff election on April 4.
Adams' statements came at a time when Lightfoot was viewed as an underdog in her city's mayoral election, with voters expressing discontent with the issue of crime in the city as they headed to the ballot, as per The Hill.
Lori Lightfoot Chicago Mayoral Defeat
Lori Lightfoot said she was mistreated during her unsuccessful reelection campaign for mayor of Chicago because she is a woman of color and not because she failed to lower the city's increasing crime rate. Lightfoot, the first black woman and openly gay mayor of the Windy City, is now the first Chicago mayor in 40 years to lose reelection, trailing in third place with 17.1% of the vote as of Wednesday morning.
Throughout her reign, she has been condemned for her soft-on-crime stance, resulting in an enormous rise in violence in the city, up 52 percent from last year and more than 100 percent from 2021.
In her concession address, the former mayor of Chicago stated that she was 'grateful that we fought together to remove a record number of firearms from our streets, cut killings, and begin making meaningful progress in public safety' despite the city's record high crime rate.
Lightfoot had ascribed the vehement opposition against her to sexism and racism; the departing mayor now suggests the same holds for her loss. During her concession speech, a reporter questioned Lightfoot whether she had been mistreated due to her color and gender, to which she said, "Of sure. I'm a black woman in America."
Per Daily Mail, Lightfoot faced stiff competition from eight candidates, including Paul Vallas, the former CEO and budget director of Chicago Public Schools, who has gotten 33 percent of the votes thus far.
Brandon Johnson, a Cook County Board of Commissioners member, placed second and will join Paul Vallas in the April 4 runoff election. Vallas earned his position in the runoff election with more than 172,000 votes after 94 percent were counted, while Johnson received more than 103,000.
Johnson successfully defeated Lightfoot, who trailed by fewer than 87,000 votes. Lightfoot told her supporters on Tuesday evening, "Clearly, we did not win the election. But, I stand here with a proud head and a grateful heart."
Lightfoot also praised her administration's purported efforts to combat crime and reduce shootings, although Vallas, the top contender, stated that the city requires real reform.
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