History is constantly being made, especially with the breakthroughs that have been made with diversity in our politicians. One such example is the newly elected elected mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot. Amazingly, Lori won in a landslide over her opponent for the mayoral election, Toni Preckwinkle. This victory was nothing less than absolutely one-sided, as voters showed their acceptance of Lori with the final poll difference being around fifty percent. The reason why this is significant is because as people become more accepting of others backgrounds, there are eventual breakthroughs like new representation of underrepresented peoples in places of power.
As Lori Lightfoot begins as the mayor of Chicago, could this be a sign that other such elections will follow in Chicago’s footsteps? The potential of this seems to be growing, as being a beacon of hope for the LGBT community, women’s rights, and the African American community is quite rare. On top of that, only two of the of the fifty-five mayors were of African American descent. Now, as Lori steps up to deal with the corruption and gun violence that plagues Chicago, others in smaller cities or cities of higher diversity might have a better chance getting representation, or better yet, their demands filled. Regardless, as a result of Lori being elected as mayor, this brings an opportunity for people of different backgrounds to attempt to gain a seat in public office in order to gain representation and protection of the communities that they represent.
I am so glad you posted about this because it is so exciting! This race was particularly powerful as it featured a runoff election between two African American women vying for the Mayor’s spot. One with experience in political office/committees and another just stepping into the political office realm. Not only that, but Lightfoot is also a part of the LGBTQ community, representing another minority in America. Representation for people of color in the government (both local and large scale) is something this country drastically needs to continue to work on, and Lightfoot’s election is definitely a small step in the right direction. As you mentioned, it will be interesting to see how Lightfoot deals with issues of gun violence and corruption in Chicago. In a Washington Post Article written about the election, voters were interviewed about who they voted for and why. While some were weary of the fact that Lightfoot does not have experience in elected office, many were excited to see what new policies she brings to the table. This is something I have noticed happening more and more with the elections of women such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Echoing your point, hopefully elections such as Chicago’s will continue to have an impact on the type of local and federal government elections that take place in the years to come. Lori Lightfoot’s election has certainly helped pave the way and it will be exciting to follow her as she continues breaking ground in Chicago.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/chicago-voters-set-to-make-history-with-mayoral-runoff-election/2019/04/01/af90f7f0-5230-11e9-a3f7-78b7525a8d5f_story.html?utm_term=.b924ebe4aa9b