Chicago chooses someone outside the machine in the mayoral election post-Jussie Smollett

Much hay was announced that Chicago had just elected its first black mayor, and an openly gay mayor, but the noticeable fact is that they did not choose the worst option.

The elected mayor, Lori Lightfoot, took part in the bloodshed of an election of 14 people resulting from the void left by the outgoing Mayor Rahm Emanuel. She was a relatively foreign relative, a repressive attorney who has never held a previously elected office. Although Lightfoot is as democratic as the rest of the race, she has been criticized for her role as prosecutor and chair of the Chicago Police Liability Task Force.

In any other city, a politically savvy prosecutor, beating the odds first by a small plurality then a second round would not be too remarkable. But it's Chicago, and Lightfoot's feat is not just Herculean; it's promising.

In the first round, Lightfoot beat many elected officials, including Bill Daley, former chief of staff of Obama and son and brother of two former mayors of Chicago. Lightfoot then faced Toni Preckwinkle, as powerful as possible.

The Jussie Smollett case was at the forefront of the mayor's runoff. While no one had expressed so much rage at the Cook County State Attorney's Office and the so-called crook of hate-motivated crimes that Emanuel, Lightfoot expressed real criticisms about Kim Foxx's decision to drop the lawsuit. Preckwinkle found himself in a difficult situation because Foxx was his own protégé.

"It's really important that the state attorney be allowed to provide a more detailed explanation as time goes on," Preckwinkle told Foxx, who was also his chief of staff.

Elections broke down sharply as the election drew near, with Lightfoot's lead from 28 points at the end of February to 36 points just before Foxx dropped the Smollett case. (The polls were administered by different sources, but the fracture is still noticeable.)

The election may not be a referendum on the Smollett affair in particular, but it's at least one of Chicago's machines. For all the progressives in the city who call themselves such, choosing Lightfoot rather than a union-supported career companion represents real change and progress.