A big “Hooray!” for Chicago’s voters.
They rejected the race, gender, and LGBT cards that Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot tried to deal from the bottom of her politically correct deck.
She could have been a star and a role model for each constituency of which she was an historic first: the city’s first Black woman and the first openly gay person to serve as mayor.
She also can claim another first — the city’s first one-term mayor in 40 years!
She managed to let both constituencies down.
Voters told her to fold her hand, giving her only 17% of the vote behind white Democrat Paul Vallas, 34 %, and Black Democrat Brandon Johnson, 20%
The battle lines for the April primary have been drawn.
Vallas was the only white politician in the field, which included seven Black candidates and one Hispanic.
He formerly led public school systems in Chicago and other cities, including New Orleans and Philadelphia.
Vallas is a strong supporter of charter schools.
In this regard, Vallas has the support of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police.
Johnson, who is a Black progressive, serves on the Cook County Board of Commissioners and is endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union.
That alone should be a flashing red light warning sign to Black and Hispanic Chicagoans that he will be the union’s puppet and oppose parental choice for Chicago’s Black and Hispanic parents.
Johnson being in the hip pocket of the teachers union is reason enough for Black and Hispanic voters in Chicago to support Vallas — if anything, for their children’s sake!
Why?
Just look at what the teachers union and educational establishments have done for Chicago schoolchildren.
A recent report revealed that dozens of Chicago schools claim no students are proficient in either math or reading despite the state and federal government funneling billions of dollars into education.
You can bet that Johnson won’t dare go against the union and support charter schools and give Black and Hispanic parents choice in providing the best education for their children.
He opposes the extension of the state’s tax-credit scholarship program that provides scholarships for students to attend non-public schools saying that it is the ‘kind of thinking that continues to reinforce unequal educational opportunities.”
He calls the idea of “choice” in education a fallacy until Chicago and other big city public schools have the same resources as suburban districts with high property tax bases.
Vallas, on the other hand, supports the program stating that it is “beneficial in empowering parents to pick the school that best suits their child’s needs . . . we need to ensure quality education regardless of their zip code.”
Johnson also wants to raise taxes in a city where small business owners are fleeing the city and wants significant cuts in the police budget.
The question is, will voters — especially the 17% who supported Lightfoot — support a white Vallas based on his program and agenda for school choice and strict law enforcement?
Or, will they support the progressive anti-school choice, defund the police, and tax-raising Johnson because he is Black?
Equally important, will Johnson and his progressive allies encourage such race-baiting.
We shall see!
Clarence V. McKee is president of McKee Communications, Inc., a government, political, and media relations and training consulting firm in Florida. He is the author of “How Obama Failed Black America and How Trump Is Helping It.”
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