THE CITY IS UP FOR GRABS

A Chicago Tribune investigative reporter explores how a “political wunderkind” went from being Chicago’s next great hope as mayor to a one-term city hall catastrophe.

Lori Lightfoot’s rise to mayor of Chicago in 2019 was both spectacular and improbable. Before her tenure, the city had been run by a coterie of privileged white men like Richard J. Daley, his son Richard M. Daley, and former Obama chief of staff, Rahm Emmanuel. As a Black lesbian federal prosecutor with a reputation for “toughness and using her fighting skills to pound on her rivals,” Lightfoot beat out her opponents by brawling with them over ethics and corruption issues that plagued Chicago City Hall. Pratt, who covered Lightfoot for the Tribune from the start of her political career, argues that those same hardball tactics were a large part of what brought about her downfall. Her tenure came at a time when Chicago, like much of the nation, was struggling with political polarization, seething racial tensions, and the Covid-19 pandemic, all of which overwhelmed local concerns such as those pertaining to the city’s viability as a global competitor. As difficult as these problems were, however, Lightfoot’s unapologetically contentious handling of events—such as the post–George Floyd riots that rocked the city and the massive teacher walkout during the pandemic—cost her the support of her constituents. As labor leader and alderperson Susan Sadlowski Garza, once a Lightfoot ally, observed, “I have never met anybody who has managed to piss off every single person they come in contact with—police, fire, teachers, aldermen, businesses, manufacturing.” Pratt’s analysis sometimes gets lost in day-to-day details, particularly those surrounding Lightfoot’s troubled political relationships, but those who follow Chicago city politics will undoubtedly find the book of interest.

Comprehensive reporting that may have limited appeal on the national stage.