Lori Lightfoot admits to making ‘mistakes’ while trailing in polls
Brady Knox
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Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot admitted that her administration had made mistakes during her tenure as she trails behind her competition in Tuesday’s mayoral race.
Prospects for Lightfoot’s reelection look dim: A new poll from Victory Research put her in third place, with just 18.7% of the vote, behind former Chicago Public Schools head Paul Vallas (26.8%) and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson (20.2%). Lightfoot has faced heavy criticism from both ends of the spectrum, being criticized by progressives and conservatives alike.
Vallas has run on a law-and-order platform, taking aim at Lightfoot’s perceived laxity on crime, winning the endorsement of the Chicago police union, USA Today reported.
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In response, the mayor has sought to recast herself as a tough-on-crime candidate, admitting past mistakes with her more lax approach.
“We made mistakes,” Lightfoot admitted to Politico when asked if she had any regrets. However, she argued that she had learned from her mistakes and was being judged too harshly, as she is a black woman.
The noted liberal took things a step further, attacking her progressive opponent Johnson, who she argues is trying to defund the police and make the city less safe.
“He wants to cut your police,” Lightfoot told Politico, saying he would shrink the number of law enforcement officials who are on “your streets making sure that you’re safe.”
In a WTTW mayoral forum earlier in February, the current mayor said that the city “absolutely” needs to hire more police officers. “This is one of the toughest times in the country to recruit, and mayors all over the country are experiencing the difficulty,” said Lightfoot.
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The race has come to center on crime, as the city saw a spike in violence over the past several years. A Chicago police end-of-year report found that crimes such as theft, carjacking, robberies, and burglaries have continued to rise.
As no candidate is expected to garner more than 50% of the vote, as is required under Chicago’s rules, Tuesday’s election is expected to move to a runoff. Lightfoot isn’t expected to be among the top two candidates, which would make her the first Chicago mayor in 40 years to lose.