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CHICAGO – After Rahm Emanuel announced that he would not seek another term as mayor of Chicago, the number of replacement candidates seemed to increase day by day. Lori Lightfoot, a former federal prosecutor who had never held an elected office, often seemed to be an afterthought in a prominent list of names – a member of the Daley political dynasty, the leader of the county's Democratic Party , a former leader of the Chicago public school system.
On Tuesday, voters sided with an overwhelming margin for Mrs. Lightfoot, giving her a dazzling victory as she prepares to become the first African-American woman and the first openly gay person to hold the post of mayor of Chicago. Ms. Lightfoot's alien status and commitment to fighting political corruption resonated in all of the city's traditional divisions of race and class. With 97% of the polling stations reported, she won 73% of the vote and headed the 50 boroughs of the city council.
"Today, you have done more than just mark the story," said Mrs. Lightfoot at a crowded ballroom of her supporters who chanted her name Tuesday night. "You have created a movement for change."
[[[[Find out how Chicago became the largest US city to elect a black woman at its city hall and what Chicago residents feel about it.]
Mrs. Lightfoot, a Democrat, used her acceptance speech to emphasize the historical character of her victory. As his wife and daughter were nearby, Mrs. Lightfoot said that her victory proved that Chicago was "a city where the color of your skin mattered little" and "where does not matter who you love, as long as you love. with all your heart. She also reiterated her promise to invest in troubled neighborhoods, not just in the booming downtown, a theme characteristic of her campaign speech.
"We can make Chicago a place where your postal code will not determine your destiny," she said.
Ms. Lightfoot finished with the biggest support among 14 candidates in First round of February, non-partisan election. On Tuesday, she broadened her call and firmly defeated Toni Preckwinkle, a long-time politician who heads the county council and the local Democratic party. The two women will soon have offices in the same building and promised to work together despite an often acrimonious campaign.
Deepti Pareenja, 37, said she had voted for Ms. Lightfoot on Tuesday, in part because of the candidate's lack of political experience.
"It's because of Chicago," Pareenja said. "We have a history of corruption with people who have been rooted in politics for decades."
Pareenja also voted for Mrs. Lightfoot in the first round of February, but did not think at the time that Mrs. Lightfoot had a lot of chances to win. Ms. Pareenja said that she was surprised and excited when the runoff field was defined.
The fact that Ms. Lightfoot has never held an elected office also helps her get the vote from Michelle Saulnier, 29, a PhD. student.
"It's a good thing, especially in Chicago, where corruption is known," Saulnier said Tuesday after voting in the Logan Square neighborhood, where Ms. Lightfoot lives with her placards. "I think it's really important to try to break some of those cycles in which we are."
Don Rose, a political consultant who was a senior advisor to the Lightfoot campaign, said that Ms. Lightfoot had been the victim of recent corruption scandals that appeared to harm any mayoral candidate who was already part of the political establishment. Chicago.
"This was the ideal situation for a type of stranger who would seize this power and consolidate the vote for reform," he said. "People are fed up."
Mrs. Lightfoot, 56, who served as a municipal administrator under two mayors, introduced herself during the election campaign as an antidote to Mr. Emanuel's eight-year mandate and as a response to the much older tradition. of the political policy of the city. She criticized Emanuel's decision to shut down dozens of schools, mostly in the Hispanic and Black neighborhoods, including the promise to reorganize the Chicago Police Service and reduce gun violence.
"People feel that the violence is out of control and that there is no plan," Lightfoot said in an interview last year.
A few years ago, Mr. Emanuel She turned to Mrs. Lightfoot during the biggest crisis of her tenure. A Chicago police officer, Jason Van Dyke, had just been charged with the murder of black teenager Laquan McDonald and protesters were demanding the eviction of Mr. Emanuel.
In the following months, Ms. Lightfoot chaired a committee that met with residents and produced a scathing report. The document accused the police department of systemic racism and found that the police had lost the trust of residents and failed to create a sense of security.
"What we heard from people all over the city was that they felt they were not claiming geography in front of their homes, on their streets or in their neighborhoods. Said Ms. Lightfoot when the report was released. in spring 2016.
After the release of the report, Ms. Lightfoot moved away from Mr. Emanuel to finally resign from her position as Chair of the Chicago Police Board, which oversees the officers' discipline, and entered the mayoral race in May. may.
At the time, Mrs. Lightfoot was one of the few personalities willing to run against Mr. Emanuel, who was to appear on the ballot until his announcement in September, at the same time. effect that he would not do it. As the candidates' field became larger, including Ms. Preckwinkle's entry, Ms. Lightfoot continued her campaign.
There were reasons for skepticism: Mrs. Lightfoot was relatively unfamiliar in the political world of the city and the signatures of her petition to the vote were briefly disputed last year. But it jumped in at least one poll in the last days before the February elections, and was approved by the Chicago Sun-Times.
"She has the vision, values, qualifications and policies to be an effective leader for the entire city, from hedge fund managers to fast food workers," wrote the newspaper's editorial board. "She is calm, focused, principled and independent."
In the weeks that followed, as the race took a venomous tone, Lightfoot garnered votes across the city, including several of her former opponents.
Ms. Lightfoot has repeatedly described Mrs. Preckwinkle, with whom she agrees on most major policy issues, as part of the democratic machine that has long dominated the Chicago government.
Mrs. Preckwinkle liked to acknowledge the work of Mrs. Lightfoot as a "corporate lawyer" and her services in the municipal administration under the two previous mayors. And Bridget Gainer, a county commissioner who supported Ms. Preckwinkle, said her candidate's political experience was actually an asset.
"We need results, not just rhetoric," Gainer said in February. "Chicago is not a work-out."
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