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Yesss!! Chicago Will Have an African Woman Mayor For the First Time

WBLS Staff
03/05/2019 12:00 AM EST

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Chicago residents will be voting between two mayoral candidates who have secured votes during the general election on February 26. County board executive, Toni Preckwinkle will face former police board president, Lori Lightfoot on April 2.

One of the candidates will become the city’s first black female mayor to run the city of Chicago, the third largest city in the country.

According to Teen Vogue:

Lightfoot, a former federal prosecutor, captured 17.5{1dfa1e56791e611ba924bda180f579857679f3f460137999817901b64f1d0aea} of the vote, while Preckwinkle, the president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, trailed slightly with 16.1{1dfa1e56791e611ba924bda180f579857679f3f460137999817901b64f1d0aea} of the vote. According to WBEZ, each of the top two candidates received at least 6,000 more votes than the candidate who came in third, William Daley, who was projected as an early favorite due to the political clout his family names carries — Daley’s brother and father have both served as mayor of Chicago in the past.

On Tuesday night, Lightfoot told the crowd,

“What do you think of us now? This is what change looks like.”


(Photo Credit: Scott Olson/Getty)

Lightfoot is the first openly gay woman running for mayor of Chicago. Following the 2014 fatal shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald by a white police officer, she has dedicated her time in efforts to reform the Chicago Police Department.


(Photo Credit: Ralf-Finn Hestoft/Getty)

Preckwinkle also used her platform to shed light on the McDonald’s shooting as well. She is known for her 19 years of work on the City Council and served as a teacher in the Chicago Public Schools.

“We may not be at the finish line. But, we should acknowledge that history is being made,” Preckwinkle says.

What a year for female politicians?!