Four years ago, when Lori Lightfoot ran against Toni Preckwinkle, both women stood to make history as the first black female mayor. Between the two, I favored Lightfoot based on her sensibility, fairness, and (seemingly) humility. With Lightfoot married to a white woman, it added a unifying effect of the gay community, plus racial harmony. What potential. It was thrilling enough that I enlisted a friend of mine to partake in an undercover caper of stealing one of her campaign signs for my suburban patio.
However, during Lightfoot’s reign, her potential quickly began to crumble. There was a major lack of humility with shouting, swearing, and insulting her colleagues. Lightfoot’s decision to exclude white reporters for her mid-term inauguration demonstrated racial division despite her reasoning about systemic racism. It did not seem logical to consider Lightfoot a racist, but I wondered if her wife had any influence over her to set her straight (no pun intended). The People spoke on election day and hopefully Lightfoot reflects and gets on the right foot herself. (Pun intended.)
It seemed that Jesus “Chuy” Garcia could be a natural bridge between black and white, however, his campaign seemed a bit lackluster and pundits claimed he entered the race too late. Personally, I thought Ald. Sophia King was like a breath of fresh air as the only other female candidate compared to Lightfoot, with sound plans. Ja’mal Green caused chuckles throughout one of the debates when he claimed the other candidates stole all his ideas and they were too old. Pundits predict he has a bright political future. Despite Ald. Roderick Sawyer and State Rep. Kam Buckner’s political ties, their connections didn’t surpass other candidates.
Why not Willie Wilson? A good commercial. All the candidates had plans on how to make Chicago safer and investing in youth, etc. The bigger question was “How are you going to pay for it?” Wilson is known for spending his own money and not about dumping a load on taxpayers. He wanted to run the government like a business and fire Lightfoot. She blasted him for the comment about letting police hunt criminals like rabbits. However, Wilson resonates with many. All of the defeated candidates still play a part in the election by their endorsements.
The recent first mayoral runoff forum between Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson showed their different approaches on solutions for public safety, the number one issue throughout the whole campaign. The two candidates surprisingly have many opinions in common about many issues, however, their methods differ. Their campaign approaches, positive or negative, may also impact some voters after Lightfoot’s implosion.
Vallas wants to run a positive campaign but needs to defend himself promptly against attacks. On a recent episode of “Flannery Fired Up,” Johnson claimed that Vallas wants to remove black history from schools. Vallas explained that he expanded black history to be part of the school curriculum, not just one month. However, during a recent runoff forum, it was brought up twice by Johnson before Vallas finally defended himself. It’s unfortunate, but wise, that Vallas’s recent commercials are attacking Johnson, but we must remember that attack ads win over lots of voters.
Johnson’s continuous attacks on Vallas accusing him of being a Republican may backfire. Democrats in a blue state should not take that their home-court advantage for granted. There are many Republicans in Illinois that are looking for a hint of conservatism and a moderate Democrat is their likely choice. Moderate candidates show a willingness to work with the other side. Cooperation is what we need, not further division. Learn more about both candidates at paulvallas2023.com and brandonjohnsonforchicago.com.
Lori Lightfoot was her own worst enemy. The power went to her head and her attitude was “my way or no way.”
I don’t think Johnson’s approach about mental health workers responding to police calls will change a G#*damn thing. If there’s a gun involved, the police can’t wait for an evaluation. Mental health has to be determined by the family.
Decades of political investments have not been fairly distributed to neighborhoods. Johnson will spend everything for blacks. You can’t just pour money into a problem to fix crime. It’s way deeper. There are no more close-knit family ties, so kids turn to gangs. They need to be taught from the beginning. Trades need to be taught. We need to get tough on crime, especially violent crime. Punishment sends a message. There needs to be consequences.
I never cared for Vallas throughout his time managing schools, however, he will approach this more like a businessman.
Brandon Johnson is big on mental health, which is a good thing but I’m also not understanding how dispatchers would disperse calls to police or mental health workers. A healthcare worker would not be able to show up for a crisis situation without police backup.
Your assessment of the family unit no longer there is true and troubling. Although families may not know what exactly is wrong with a member, they know damn well when someone is not stable but won’t admit to it. The family of the guy who went on a shooting rampage in Highland Park had a history where his family called police on him, but declined anything further.
I witnessed firsthand last summer when a neighbor was completely out of control and had an emotional meltdown in public. Neighbors noticed something was off about this guy for years beforehand. If neighbors are noticing, what’s going on behind closed doors?
Beautiful picture of Chicago to start things off. Hard to believe that such a beautiful place could be so full of turmoil and crime.
Lighthead was a hard-nosed, no-nonsense lawyer who came out of nowhere to beat a more well known adversary. The Sun Times endorsed her and she caught a fire of votes.
Once in office she went immediately to visit Oprah to be anointed the new queen. That was a poor move from a serious business point of view. I mean, that was her immediate priority!
Then in her first meeting with the aldermen, she yelled at that older white man and told him that she would not take his crap. Just a bratty snot showing off her newly found power.
She continued to impress me as a mean-spirited bitchy type with a chip on her shoulder. One writer mentioned that she acted like she had a difficult childhood because she was black, female, short and gay. And that she was out to blame the world for her disposition in life.
The dog picture might have nailed her attitude in terms of no discussion available. I’ll bite you first and let you bleed later. And she was so bold to announce that she would only talk with colored reporters. Where was the unity?
I liked Willie Wilson for several reasons but primarily because of his obvious passion to fight crime, as with hunting criminals like rabbits. I believe that aggression would set a great standard. He also helped many city folks by paying for their gasoline last year.
Sadly , he appeared on the Tucker Show and he might have been nervous because his speech was not leader-like somehow. I still like him and maybe next time.
Brandon Johnson was highly unknown to many and now he has a good chance to be a big city mayor. This can happen in the USA and that’s a good thing. However, Paul Vallas is the better choice. He won the original contest and that should have been enough. This run off business is silly and unfair. So expensive for candidates. I sincerely hope that he wins in spite of him being a moderate in a miserable democratic city.
Has there ever been a need for change in Chicago that is so obvious? Many are afraid to ride into the city because of the crime that is constant. A moderate like Vallas could bring cooperation between most and that would be a huge step in bringing businesses and tourists back to this once fabulous city.
It is such a shame that Chicago has so much beauty but plagued with such risk that people stay away. I didn’t go downtown this past Christmas and the crime situation was only part of the reason.
I saw a documentary on Lightfoot and Preckwinkle four years ago and Lightfoot definitely had something to prove because of her height, etc. Well, she overcompensated.
I too like Willie Wilson but knew he would have a hard time in the debates and any public speaking. It’s not his strong point and unfortunately, a candidate has to be polished in this area. Wilson should be in some kind of role other than a philanthropist. He’s old-school and would demonstrate a tough-love ideal, and a good role model for youth.
I don’t care for runoff elections either. It seems that Johnson is gaining momentum quickly. I still think a moderate is the way to go whether the candidate is a Democrat or a Republican.