Why Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot's loss is 'a warning for the other big-city Black mayors': columnist

When Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) was elected to serve as mayor of Los Angeles in November, for the first time ever, Black mayors were heading the four largest cities in the United States.

Soon after Bass' election win, Politico reporter Brakkton Booker wrote, although the "major metropolises will simultaneously be led by African Americans, it may be for just a brief period." Booker was right.

Earlier this week, the first Black woman and openly gay mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, also became the "first incumbent mayor in 40 years to lose a re-election bid," New York Times columnist, Charles Blow writes.

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Blow notes he interviewed Lightfoot in her Chicago office just four days prior to her loss.

After speaking to the former mayor, Blow concludes she "may be a harbinger, or at least a warning, for the other big-city Black mayors," and asks the question, "As the Covid crime wave wears on, will their mostly non-Black citizens feel that their safety is being prioritized and secured under Black leadership?"

WBEZ Chicago reports:

Lightfoot's first round knock-out comes four years after she was swept into office as a political outsider and corruption buster, but rejected by critics who said she didn’t do enough to tamp down the city's crime and let a tough negotiating style get in the way of progress.

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In the same vein, Blow, who is also the author of "Fire Shut Up in My Bones," highlights the fact Lightfoot's defeat "speaks to how potent the issue of crime can be," as well as "how it can be used as a scare tactic."

Regarding this idea, according to Blow, Lightfoot believes crime "was absolutely used as a political tool in her race."

She said, "You've got people who are using it as a cudgel against me every single day. You've got the only white candidate in the race who’s acting like he's going to be a great white savior on public safety."

During her interview with Blow, Lightfoot also spoke to her opponent, Paul Vallas' campaign language, saying, "He is giving voice and platform to people who are hateful of anyone who isn't white and Republican in our city, in our country," while noting "Chicago is a deeply divided and segregated city."

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Longtime progressive political consultant, Rebecca Williams, mentioned Lightfoot's "accomplishments that can't be ignored," including her success with "increasing spending on homelessness and mental health services."

According to WBEZ Chicago, the former mayor allocated "some of the money to help fund the city's first co-responder pilot program — which sends mental health professionals out with police, and some on their own, in response to 911 calls where a mental health crisis is taking place."

Williams said, "[That program] is an incredibly innovative, and critical and meets-the-moment policy that our city’s going to, for the rest of our time, continue to benefit from." She continued, "This is hands down going to be one of the most tremendously impactful mayoral terms that I can think of."

However, voters were clearly focused on the issue of crime.

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Blow writes:

Crime often comes in waves, but a question lingers about how people, even liberals, respond when a crest arrives under Black leadership: Are Black mayors too quickly and easily blamed for rising crime, and if so, why? Because of an unwillingness to crack down on criminals, or because of a more insidious, latent belief in ineffectual Black leadership in times of crisis?

The author encourages further thought into his rhetorical questions by noting, currently, "when the country has still not come to grips with the wide-ranging societal trauma that the pandemic exacerbated and unleashed, mayors are being held responsible for that crime."

He emphasizes, "If all politics is local, crime and safety are the most local. And when the perception of crime collides with ingrained societal concepts of race and gender, politicians, particularly Black women, can pay the price."

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Blow's full New York Times column is available here (subscription required). Politico report is here. WBEZ Chicago's is here.