Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has urged black voters to help her “keep her seat” amid a terrifying rise in crime, lest she fall to white or Hispanic challengers.
As Lightfoot seeks a second term in the upcoming Feb. 28 election, some business leaders concerned about the ongoing crime wave say they believe she’s not up to the task.
At rallies Saturday, Lightfoot told South and West Side residents who don’t support her not to bother at all to vote. Chicago’s South Side is a historically black area.
“Every vote that comes out of the South Side for someone whose name isn’t Lightfoot is a vote for Chuy Garcia or Paul Vallas,” Lightfoot said. “If you want them to control your destiny, then stay home. Then don’t choose. But we have to do better.’
Lightfoot made the remarks, naming the only white and Hispanic challengers in the running, Paul Vallas, a former Chicago public schools chief and former city treasurer, and Progressive Rep. Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia. She also meets six black opponents in the race.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot urged black voters to help her “keep your seat” in the Feb. 28 election despite a terrifying spike in crime, lest she fall to white or Hispanic challengers
Lightfoot faces real opponents in the race, including Paul Vallas (pictured), a former Chicago public school superintendent and former city treasurer, and Rep. Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia
Lightfoot made history as the first black woman and first openly gay person to serve as mayor of Chicago, sailing to victory four years ago as an outsider who vowed to rid City Hall of corruption and create a safer, more just city.
However, her bid for a second term is very much in doubt amid concerns about persistently high crime rates in the country’s third-largest city and accusations that she is overly hostile and at times downright mean – criticism she has dismissed as sexist and racist smacks against a tough leader who passionately loves Chicago.
“We need the South Side to come to the election like a mighty roar,” Lightfoot said at Saturday’s rally. “We don’t have to be the Israelites wandering in the desert for 30 years. We have to get to the promised land right here, and we won’t make it unless you vote.’
Former US Representative Bobby Rush, who supported her opponent in 2019, joined Lightfoot at the rally today, leading local residents to chant “Hold up the seat” and “Down with the wannabes and up with Lori.”
Vallas, one of Lightfoot’s opponents who has been criticized for aligning himself with the Fraternal Order of Police, told his supporters that his campaign was about “taking back our town”.
Vallas, one of Lightfoot’s opponents who has been criticized for aligning himself with the Fraternal Order of Police, told supporters that his campaign is about “taking back our town”.
Lightfoot, who was campaigning this week, said in a statement she had “been a consistent and committed partner with the business community
One of Lightfoot’s opponents – Rep. Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia – touts his work with communities across the city and plays well with others in a way he says it doesn’t
The mayor’s other major opponent, Garcia, has criticized her on Twitter.
“This is disqualifying rhetoric for anyone hoping to lead a Chicago that is a multiracial and multiracial city,” Garcia said. “We need unity, not division.”
Lightfoot ran TV ads accusing Garcia of corruption and found his house campaign took money from Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, who is accused of massive financial fraud. Garcia said he didn’t know Bankman-Fried, and that his campaign had made direct contributions.
Garcia advertises his work with communities across the city and playing with others in a way he says Lightfoot doesn’t.
“She’s unnecessarily combative. It’s over the top,” Garcia said.
Business leaders say Chicago can’t get any more progressive.
“I can’t see our city becoming any more progressive or socialist than it already is,” Craig J. Duchossois, chief executive officer of Duchossois Group Inc., told The Wall Street Journal. “It scares the business world.”
Lightfoot’s campaign said in a statement it had “been a consistent and committed partner with the business community.
She also said her leadership has helped Chicago improve its credit rating and attract new businesses and expand others.
However, in May 2022, Boeing Co. announced it would be moving its headquarters to Arlington, Virginia, and the following month Citadel LLC and Citadel Securities were relocated to Miami, the WSJ reported. Crime wasn’t mentioned as a reason, but it was a consideration.
“While Lori Lightfoot makes many bold claims, she ignores the reality that businesses are being driven out of town,” the Vallas campaign said in a statement, according to the WSJ.
Crime has continued to rise in 2023 as dozens of businesses vacated the city’s Magnificent Mile shopping district
After a year of rising crime and persistent inflation, many Americans chose to leave the country’s three largest cities and move south
The rising crime rate in the city is worrying.
Crime in Chicago has continued to rise in 2023, as total crimes rose a staggering 58 percent in the first two months as dozens of businesses vacated the city’s Magnificent Mile shopping district.
Huge brands like Macy’s, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Gap, Uniqlo and Timberland have fled large premises since the Covid shutdowns and the riots that followed.
Many have been displaced by rising crime and violence, with the vacancy rate on the once-expensive shopping mall surging tenfold from 2016, when it was just 3.6 percent, to the current 30.1 percent.
Robberies and sexual assaults are up 23 percent and thefts are up 33 percent compared to last time. Homicides are down 22 percent while shootings are down just four percent.
Homeless camps have sprung up in the terminal of Chicago’s crime-plagued O’Hare International Airport, leaving some concerned for their safety as pictures have emerged of people sleeping in filthy makeshift shelters.
Homeless encampments have engulfed Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport with crime, and some are concerned for their safety as images continue to surface of people sleeping in exits and filthy shelters
Thousands of people sleeping outdoors have taken refuge at the popular airport hub between 2000 and 2020, according to a study, where an average of 2,520 passengers travel daily, according to a study
Thousands of people sleeping outdoors have taken refuge at the airline’s popular hub and many have set up shelters in the terminal buildings.
Shocking photos show a man who collapsed in an entryway, another who collapsed without shoes, and a group of half a dozen people who took over an indoor area next to the escalators.
O’Hare’s growing problem is just a snapshot of a citywide homelessness crisis simmering beneath the city’s surface, which is being eroded by rising crime rates.
Lightfoot’s handling of crises has sometimes been praised, such as when she ordered lockdowns early in the coronavirus pandemic and an image of the austere mayor became a popular meme. But at other times, Lightfoot’s actions have been questioned.
After the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police sparked protests and civil unrest, including window smashing and fires, Lightfoot ordered the city to build drawbridges across the Chicago River to prevent protesters from entering downtown .
Some in the city saw it as elitist, a way of protecting the upscale parts of the highly segregated city at the expense of neighborhoods with battered business districts, which were also badly damaged.
But Lightfoot has taken most of the heat for the rise in crime, with homicides hitting a 25-year high of about 800 in 2021. Lightfoot says she has a plan that’s working, noting that murders have gone down over the past year. But they’re still higher than when she took office, and concerns have grown about other violent crimes in the city, including carjacking.
“We’ve made progress year after year,” Lightfoot said. “But I recognize that people in the city don’t feel safe.”