Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot loses re-election bid

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has lost her bid for re-election after a campaign in which she came under fire over a crime wave in the city.

She was the first black woman and the first openly gay person to serve as head of America’s third-largest city.

The Democrat conceded defeat on Tuesday to two challengers, both Democrats, who will advance to a run-off next month.

Ms Lightfoot’s defeat makes her the city’s first one-term mayor in four decades.

She was one of nine candidates, all Democrats, in the crowded first round of the election.

During the campaign, she touted her record of supporting workers, increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour, but the former prosecutor found herself assailed by rivals over the city’s crime rate.

Chicago last year saw 695 homicides according to police figures – a decrease of more than 100 from 2021, but still at a stubbornly high level not seen in the city since the 1990s.

Other crimes such as car theft have seen steep increases in recent years.

In the 4 April run-off, Paul Vallas, a former superintendent of Chicago schools who presents himself as a moderate law-and-order candidate, will face Brandon Johnson, a left-wing Cook County commissioner endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union.