Lori Lightfoot Biography

Lori Lightfoot (August 4, 1962) politician mayor of Chicago. Lightfoot was born in Massillon, Ohio, United States. Her father was a factory worker and janitor. She was the youngest of four brothers. She grew up in a neighborhood located on the west side of the city. She graduated from Washington High School in Massillon, there she stood out as a trumpet player of the school band. On the other hand, she was the point guard of the basketball team, editor of the yearbook and member of the Pep Club. She began her professional career at the University of Michigan in political science. From an early age, she was shown as a leader.

Lightfoot had to get part-time jobs to pay for her education because her family’s economic situation was not stable. Given this, her brother decided to take an incorrect path and advanced a bank robbery, but he was unsuccessful and got arrested. Lori received a full scholarship to study Law from the University of Chicago. She was president of the student body of the Faculty of Law, from that position she rejected a lot of racist and sexist acts towards the student body.

Career

Lightfoot entered the law firm Mayer Brown. During this time, she met several Republican politicians and defended several cases against racial discrimination. Lightfoot took her first steps in the public sector as Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. From that moment she decided to start her political career and began her campaign as Mayor, Lightfoot intended to represent the African-American community, many victims of Ku Kux Klan.

Lori Lightfoot participated in Operation Silver Shovel, an investigation carried out by the FBI to attack corruption in Chicago. Within the police institution, she carried out investigations in several cases of abuse of authority and improper conduct by the police. However, the disciplinary measures that were executed within the police department were questioned for not being effective and also being negligent. Lightfoot then worked at the Chicago Office of Communications and Emergency Management. Later Mayor Richard M. Daley appointed her Deputy Head of the Chicago Department of Procurement Services. Lightfoot worked a few months and later returned to Mayer Brown because she did not support corruption cases in City Hall.

In 2017, Lightfoot again assumed the position as president of the Police Board. At the beginning of 2018, Lightfoot announced her candidacy for mayor of Chicago, this would be her first candidacy for public office. Most notable is that she is the first LGTBIQ and African-American candidate in the history of the Chicago mayor elections. She competed against Gery Chico, Bill Daley, Susana Mendoza, and Toni Preckwinkle. Her campaign had strong support from LGBTIQ groups and local politicians, from the Chicago Sun-Times editorial committee. She also had the support of several former candidates, including Mendoza, Chico, Paul Vallas, and fourth-placed Willie Wilson also backed Lightfoot when she reached the second round. Lightfoot maintained a substantial advantage over Preckwinkle.

Lightfoot expressed in her mayor’s debate her personal experiences with racial discrimination and the worrying situations facing the black community.

Lightfoot new Mayor of Chicago

On April 2, 2019, she was elected mayor of Chicago. She won more than 73% of the general vote in the second round.

She took over the office on May 20, 2019. She intends to meet the demands of citizens on economic issues and violence with firearms that take more lives than in other major cities in the United States. More than 550 people were killed in Chicago last year due to gang violence, with drug trafficking being the biggest reason, most black neighborhoods have notable economic and social realities. She also expressed her fight against police brutality and endemic corruption. The mayor of Chicago announced that ICE’s access to the Chicago police database would be suspended. She ordered the police not to cooperate with immigration agents “to attack immigrant families” and reaffirmed aid to the immigrant community.

Personal life

Lightfoot resides in the Logan Square neighborhood on the north side of Chicago. Her wife is Amy Eshleman, a former employee of the Chicago Public Library. The couple has a daughter named Vivian.