Mayor Lori Lightfoot Wasn’t Here to Make Friends—and That’s Her Loss
Looking back at Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s only term in office, it’s hard to see past my disappointment.
I’m not alone, as evidenced by her defeat in the first round of voting. Four years ago she came from relative obscurity to win all 50 of the city’s wards in her first political campaign ever.
This time, she couldn’t place high enough in the crowded field to make the runoff.
What went wrong? To borrow an overused motto from the world of reality TV, she wasn’t here to make friends.
She didn’t promise to make enemies, either, but she developed quite a number of new critics, including some former allies.
In 2020, for example, she made waves in a virtual meeting with members of the City Council Black Caucus by telling them that aldermen who don’t support her budget won’t have their wards prioritized, six aldermen who were in the meeting told Tribune reporters.
“Don’t come to me for s--- for the next three years” if you don’t support the budget, two aldermen recalled her saying. Although hints of retribution were nothing new for City Hall, the reporters noted, some aldermen were surprised that the mayor made such a threat so directly.
Indeed, one wonders, what happened to the days in City Hall when a mere nod-and-a-wink was supposed to be enough?
She defended a website she launched the previous year to shame aldermen who voted against her budget, which passed 39-11 anyway, defying criticism that the move was petty and bullying.
“The fact of the matter is, since when is letting voters and residents know how aldermen voted bullying?” Lightfoot told reporters. “That’s just silly.”
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