You can find terrible politicians in every corner of the country, but few deserve to lose reelection more than Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Lightfoot will face voters on Tuesday. Those voters will have eight other options to choose from alongside their incumbent mayor. Lightfoot’s failures are the focus of the race, with crime dominating the campaigns of several candidates, including Lightfoot herself.
CHICAGO MAYORAL RACE: TOP CONTENDERS AS ELECTION DAY APPROACHES
But Lightfoot has forfeited the right to campaign on crime. Lightfoot took office in the middle of 2019, a year the city finished with 500 homicides. In 2020, her first full year on the job, that number rose to 776, and it increased to 804 in 2021. In 2022, the number ticked down to 695, which makes it the fourth-deadliest year in Chicago this century.
The pandemic, so often blamed for the crime surge, isn’t the only factor. From 2021 to 2022, the overall number of crimes spiked from over 47,000 to nearly 67,000. Motor vehicle thefts are up 102% compared to last year, and theft is up 56%.
So what has Lightfoot been doing the past three years as crime spiraled out of control in Chicago? She made a “call to arms” for abortion after Roe v. Wade was overturned — an issue that has nothing to do with the city government anyway. She cheered on the state of Illinois as it eliminated cash bail, helping exacerbate the crime wave. She threw expletives at Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. She racially discriminated against journalists. She dressed up as a heroic Clorox wipes container.
WATCH: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot holds a news conference while wearing a "Rona Destroyer" costume. pic.twitter.com/lOad4HsbXr
— The Hill (@thehill) October 1, 2020
Meanwhile, she has ignored the problem of crime up until now, given that it is election time and she cannot avoid the voters' top concern. Under Lightfoot, Chicago has even banned police from chasing suspects on foot, giving criminals a license to escape so long as they are willing to run a couple of blocks. Lightfoot’s Chicago focused not on addressing crime, but on making it impossible for the police to do their jobs. This has unsurprisingly led to more than 1,000 officers leaving last year.
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By any measure, Lightfoot’s tenure as mayor has been a failure — even a disaster. On crime, her failure is undeniable. Lightfoot might just be the worst mayor in America, and there is a lot of competition for that title.
At the very least, regardless of who ends up winning on Tuesday, Lightfoot deserves to lose.