Elections News Politics

Meet Chicago’s next mayor: In-depth profiles of Lori Lightfoot, Toni Preckwinkle

By Sun-Times staff

screen_shot_2019_03_22_at_6.54.34_am_e1553256033194.png — School photos of a young Lori Lightfoot, left, and Toni Preckwinkle, right, Chicago’s two mayoral candidates facing off in the runoff election April 2. (Provided photos.)

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They both grew up in segregated Midwestern cities, in families that refused to be limited to the “black” side of town. They both have three siblings. They both excelled in academics and sports – and remember high school honors they should have received. They both want to make history as the first African-American woman to serve as Chicago’s mayor. Read Chicago Sun-Times profiles of Lori Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle.

Toni Preckwinkle: From history teacher to political ‘boss’

Toni Preckwinkle now and from childhood. As powerful a public figure as Preckwinkle is, many surely don’t know the complicated role former Mayor Harold Washington played in her rise, or her disdain for technology, or her ability to make a killer mac ‘n’ c — Toni Preckwinkle now and from childhood. As powerful a public figure as Preckwinkle is, many surely don’t know the complicated role former Mayor Harold Washington played in her rise, or her disdain for technology, or her ability to make a killer mac ‘n’ cheese. | Ashlee Rezin / Sun-Times and provided photo

Lori Lightfoot: ‘An opportunity to do big, bold things’

Senior class president Lori Lightfoot, left, in yearbook photo. Provided; Mayoral candidate Lori Lightfoot, right, in the Sun-Times newsroom Thursday, January 17, 2019. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

RELATED

• Side-by-side: Lori Lightfoot’s and Toni Preckwinkle’s plans for Chicago

• 2019 Chicago Mayoral and Aldermanic Election Voting Guide

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