The Feb. 28 mayoral election is less than six weeks away. The landscape looks rocky for Chicago’s mayor.
Do the math. Seven of the nine candidates are African American. Traditionally, racial allegiance has played a role in Chicago politics. Some Black voters lean into African American candidates, believing that they are more likely to advocate for their concerns.
There are plenty of choices and much at stake. Black communities are under siege, suffering from a dearth of economic, social and cultural resources. If the Black vote is split, Lightfoot had better start packing her bags.
In Chicago’s nonpartisan elections, if a candidate gets no more than 50% of the vote, the top two contenders will compete in an April 4 runoff. The mayor may not make it that far.
The 2019 mayoral campaign was a different story. Lightfoot made history as the first Black woman and first openly LGBTQ person to be elected mayor of Chicago, thanks in part to the African American vote.
In the first round, Lightfoot and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle were the two top vote-getters in a 14-candidate field. Lightfoot won a majority of the city’s white wards. Millionaire businessperson Willie Wilson captured the Black vote. He came in fourth, winning 11% of the vote and 13 predominantly African American wards on the South and West sides. Lightfoot and Preckwinkle aggressively courted Wilson’s endorsement. Wilson gave Lightfoot the nod, helping the lesbian attorney build trust with older, more conservative Black voters.
Lightfoot went on to win 73% of the vote and all 50 Chicago wards, pulling in Black voters, progressive-leaning lakefront residents, Latinos and white ethnic voters on the Southwest and Northwest sides.
Back then, Wilson gleefully claimed the role of kingmaker or rather, queenmaker. Now Wilson is one of Lightfoot’s harshest critics. Wilson and community activist Ja’Mal Green have aggressively courted the political limelight since their 2019 mayoral runs.
Also running are Aldermen Sophia King and Roderick Sawyer, who represent the 4th and 6th wards, respectively. Their wards offer solid bases to build on. King hopes to stand out as the only woman to challenge Lightfoot in the race. Sawyer is the former chair of the Chicago City Council Black Caucus and the son of a former Chicago Mayor Eugene Sawyer.
The other African American hopefuls are South Side state Rep. Kam Buckner and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, who enjoys backing from several progressive unions who know how to turn out a vote.
Also in the mix are U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García, a Mexican American, and former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas who is white.
Will Black voters desert Lightfoot?
She touts prominent Black supporters such as U.S. Reps. Robin Kelly and Danny Davis, along with Bobby Rush, who just retired from Congress. Another influential backer is 28th Ward Ald. Jason Ervin, current chair of the council’s Black Caucus.
Others are disappointed. I hear it in chats on the streets, at mayoral forums, on social media. Violent crime must be curbed, Black voters say, because our communities pay the biggest and most painful price.
They are angry about the Lightfoot administration’s handling of the botched police raid on the home of Anjanette Young. They are mystified by Lightfoot’s plan to locate a shelter for Latino migrants in Woodlawn, with little consultation with the community.
They are furious at the Chicago Police Department’s failure to fire an officer who allegedly lied about his connections to the extremist, far-right Proud Boys. They complain that Lightfoot and police Superintendent David Brown have mishandled the investigation into those ties.
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Black families are staggering their way out of the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected their health and well-being and kept their children out of schools for many months.
Lightfoot also touts her signature initiative, Invest South/West program, which is plowing $1.4 billion in investments in 10 overlooked and challenged Black neighborhoods on the South and West sides. The effort has been criticized for falling short of its goals. It all adds up to trouble for Chicago’s second elected Black mayor.
To Lightfoot’s credit, she has not played the race card by appealing to Black voters. That’s the one that goes, “Vote for me, so ‘we’ can keep the seat.” As the campaign clock winds down, the temptation may become irresistible.
Meanwhile, Lightfoot may have disappointed many, but she is the first Chicago mayor since Harold Washington to make racial equity and social justice a top priority.
If only all the current mayoral contenders would make that pledge.
Laura Washington is a political commentator and longtime Chicago journalist. Her columns appear in the Tribune each Monday. Write to her at [email protected].
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