Chicago Megathread: With CTU on strike, Lightfoot lays out her budget

[Mr. Illini]

You can make a pedantic argument about who has what titles, but one candidate is owned by the city's wealthy financial interests and the other is the candidate of working people. Seems fairly clear-cut to me.

That's not to say that Preckwinkle doesn't have some reasonably strong establishment links either.

I'm curious, what was the realization that caused your abrupt switch from Lightfoot to Toni?

I voted for Lightfoot in the primary because I believed she was capable of defeating Bill Daley in a runoff and Preckwinkle was not. I've always preferred Preckwinkle on policy, but guaranteeing Daley went down was more important than the policy differences between the two. Now that Bill's out of the picture, I'm free to vote for the candidate I agree with more.

This is just not true. Scroll back in this thread, and you’ll find that you said that Lightfoot’s shortcomings on policing are less concerning than Preckwinkle’s ties in the political establishment.

Something else caused the shift. Could be her endorsers, her donors, her statements on the cop academy, or something else. Doesn’t seem that it had to do with Daley, though.

[Mr. Illini]

You can make a pedantic argument about who has what titles, but one candidate is owned by the city's wealthy financial interests and the other is the candidate of working people. Seems fairly clear-cut to me.

That's not to say that Preckwinkle doesn't have some reasonably strong establishment links either.

I'm curious, what was the realization that caused your abrupt switch from Lightfoot to Toni?

I voted for Lightfoot in the primary because I believed she was capable of defeating Bill Daley in a runoff and Preckwinkle was not. I've always preferred Preckwinkle on policy, but guaranteeing Daley went down was more important than the policy differences between the two. Now that Bill's out of the picture, I'm free to vote for the candidate I agree with more.

This is just not true. Scroll back in this thread, and you’ll find that you said that Lightfoot’s shortcomings on policing are less concerning than Preckwinkle’s ties in the political establishment.

Something else caused the shift. Could be her endorsers, her donors, her statements on the cop academy, or something else. Doesn’t seem that it had to do with Daley, though.

I think Sjoyce can decide on his own what causes his support for candidates.

I agree. That doesn’t mean I won’t point out that what they’re describing as their reasons for supporting one candidate in the first round isn’t consistent with what they posted on this forum.

[Mr. Illini]

I do apologize if I've been irritable in this thread lately. This election has been a chaotic mess of friends turning against friends and making it personal, and combined with craziness at work, has driven me a little crazy. I'm eagerly awaiting the end of this election.

[Mr. Illini]

Just voted a second time for Lori and Ameya. Though, unlike the first time, it was not without reservations.

I hope whoever wins tonight marks a truly new day for our beloved city. I think we've got a shot with either one of them. We'll be back in four years to do a performance evaluation.

They can't do it without support from the council, though, so here's hoping we bring home the key aldermanic runoffs, especially Andre Vasquez, Marianne Lalonde, and Rafa Yañez. O'Connor, Cappleman, and Lopez have to go.

[Mr. Illini]

What time should we get an early indication of a possible landslide victory for Lightfoot ?

The results came in pretty quickly after the 7pm central poll closing on Feb 26, so I’m hopeful for the same this time around. I guess we’ll find out soon.

[Mr. Illini]

Where can results be found?

I recommend the official site for the most updated:

https://chicagoelections.com/en/election-results.asp?election=210

[Mr. Illini]

A few predictions before everything officially closes:

I think the Mayor’s race has the potential to be much closer than most are thinking

I think that Ameya is going to lose the Treasurer’s race (and I’ll shed tears)

I think Lalonde is going to beat Cappleman in the 46th

[Mr. Illini]

First results:

Lightfoot 76
Preckwinkle 24
17% in

[Mr. Illini]

First results:

Lightfoot 76
Preckwinkle 24
17% in

Well, this has been quite anti-climatic. Congrats to Lori!

Results are mostly from Lightfoot territory on the north side

[Mr. Illini]

Bad news for Ameya. If it’s Lori territory, it should be his, too (except for the cop wards)

[Mr. Illini]

51% in, Lightfoot drops to 74%

It’s probably over.

[Mr. Illini]

Continue-Ears is going to win. Well, time to focus on the aldermanic races.

Yep, might as well call this one as well

[Mr. Illini]

Other than the race with Jeannette, the others are too close to call or a blowout to the progressive candidate. €]¥|]¥{•£|£] /&:@.  @1”:& ...all of this night.

But Lori won

Also Martin is going to beat Negron in the 47th, a major win

[Mr. Illini]

Also Vasquez is up narrowly. That’s the most important ward IMO

[Mr. Illini]

Chicago must REALLY hate establishment pols for this kind of result.

For the first time ever. It’s certainly a mandate.

[Mr. Illini]

I’m at a social gathering so not researching, but according to political geeks on twitter, Lightfoot won Preckwinkle’s home turf, Ward 4.

That is unbelievable.

[Mr. Illini]

Patrick O’Connor, one of the last members of the racist Vrdolyak 29 from the 1980’s, has lost to challenger Andre Vasquez

Justice is served. Harold is smiling.

[Mr. Illini]

Lori Lightfoot leads in every single ward, via the Sun Times

I can’t say anything but “wow.” Chicago hasn’t seen anything like this before.

[Mr. Illini]

With 100% in, wards 33 and 46 will have to wait for VBMs. Too close to call. Both have serious progressive challengers up against Rahm rubber-stampers

[Mr. Illini]

Status of some of the key aldermanic races (all my own takes, not official)...

5: Hairston likely winner
15: Lopez is winner (loss for progressives)
20: Taylor is winner
25: Sigcho-Lopez is winner (win for progressives)
33: Too close to call
39: Nugent is winner (loss for progressives)
40: Vasquez is winner (win for progressives)
46: Too close to call
47: Martin is winner (win for progressives)

My thought on the mayor’s race is that Chicago, and me, took a leap in the dark today. Lori Lightfoot promises a different type of politics for the city, but has very little political track record. We gave her a strong mandate and a more cooperative city council to do it. Now, it’s on her to follow through and it’s on us to hold her accountable.

[Mr. Illini]

Incredible...

Martinez Sutton, brother of Rekia Boyd, who’s case before the Police Board became a rallying point for activists in opposition to Lightfoot, attended Lightfoot’s event this evening

https://twitter.com/royalpratt/status/1113261065343852544?s=21

[Mr. Illini]

The Sun Times has the maps up for the mayoral and treasurer races for those interested:

https://elections.suntimes.com/results/

The night before the election, I was wondering what Ameya's path the victory was considering he didn't seem to have made inroads outside of the north side. Sure enough, Conyears Ervin cleaned up everywhere except the north side. Ameya's best wards were the 47th, which he represents in the council, and my ward, the 44th, which is primarily Lakeview.

I know we've already discussed the map of the mayor's race somewhat, but one thing that recently jumped out to me is how much better Toni did in the black wards on the south side than in the black wards on the west side. In my experience looking at Chicago election maps, you don't usually see a break like that regardless of where the candidate is from. Another thing that I noticed is how Lightfoot underperformed in Rogers Park. She won that ward in the first round, so that she performed worse there in the second round than many of the wards that didn't nearly win in the first round is interesting.

[Mr. Illini]

Still trying to make sense of Lori winning all 50 wards. It is really unprecedented and I am not sure how she pulled it off. I expected Toni to at least win a number of the plurality black wards given what I perceived to be her inroads in that community.

Did those wards go to Lori because of her message? Or is Toni really that unpopular? She won re-election in the 2018 primary, though looking back, I suppose that 60-40 was not overly convincing.

[Mr. Illini]

Still trying to make sense of Lori winning all 50 wards. It is really unprecedented and I am not sure how she pulled it off. I expected Toni to at least win a number of the plurality black wards given what I perceived to be her inroads in that community.

Did those wards go to Lori because of her message? Or is Toni really that unpopular? She won re-election in the 2018 primary, though looking back, I suppose that 60-40 was not overly convincing.

Maybe it has to do with her former occupation as President of the Chicago Police Board. I'm sure she was able to win over many conservative white males who usually bring odium on blacks, women and homosexuals.

I expected her to win those areas. What I can't figure out is how she did so well among black voters despite Preckwinkle's inroads and establishment support from within that community.

[Mr. Illini]

It's just so unprecedented. Even when Richie was winning with 70% margins, he typically would lose a block of wards that would go to his challenger along racial lines. Same with his dad. Chicago has truly not seen anything like it in at least the last 50 years.

Still trying to figure it all out.