Politics

Lori Lightfoot Blames Loss In Heavily Democratic City On Racism, Sexism

(Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/Getty Images)

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Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot lost her reelection bid on Tuesday and she is blaming two familiar foes: racism and sexism.

Lightfoot’s loss makes her the first Chicago mayor to lose reelection in 40 years, NBC reported. In Tuesday’s election, Lightfoot saw many of the northern, majority-white areas of Chicago that she won in 2019 flip from her to Brandon Johnson, one of her opponents. Johnson is also black. Her loss ends a historic term in which Chicago elected its first black female and openly gay mayor.

Despite this, Lightfoot told reporters that she believes she was treated unfairly due to her race and gender. “I’m a black woman in America. Of course,” Lightfoot told reporters, according to The New York Post.

Lightfoot has carved out a reputation for bringing up race when confronted with criticisms of her job performance. She told The New Yorker on Saturday that some people don’t want her in office due to her race and gender.

“I am a black woman — let’s not forget,” she told the outlet. “Certain folks, frankly, don’t support us in leadership roles.”

Lightfoot previously came under scrutiny when she limited media access to journalists of color. She further denounced the Chicago journalist class as being “overwhelmingly white.”

When asked if she regretted the decision by journalist Kara Swisher, Lightfoot doubled down.

“I would absolutely do it again,” she told Swisher.