Chicago Mayor Lightfoot Loses Badly - Gets Only 16.4% of Vote

Chicago Democrat Lori Lightfoot on Tuesday became the Windy City’s first incumbent mayor in 40 years to lose re-election as rising crime in the city steered voters away from the embattled leader. 

Receiving only 16.4% of the vote, Lightfoot, 60, finished behind former head of Chicago Public Schools Paul Vallas and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson in Tuesday’s race. 

Vallas, who took 35% of the vote, and Johnson, who obtained 20.2% of the vote, will head to an April 4 runoff election to determine who will be the city’s next mayor. 

Heading into Tuesday’s race, Lightfoot’s prospects appeared bleak, as she trailed multiple candidates in numerous polls, which showed that worries over crime and public safety in the city were the top concerns of voters in America’s third-largest city.