Chicago Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot is less than 24 hours removed from winning Tuesday’s election, but she’s already hit the ground running as she’s gotten her transition effort underway.
Lightfoot, who soundly defeated Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle in Tuesday’s race, met with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday, and she also met with Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson at CPD headquarters to dsisuss her next steps forward before she assumes office.
“(I’m) feeling good. It’s a fantastic day to be a Chicagoan,” she said Wednesday morning.
Lightfoot started off her day with a unity meeting, held by the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. Both Lightfoot and Preckwinkle were in attendance, and both spoke of the importance of coming together to face the challenges that Chicago is dealing with.
“We have some real challenges, and I look forward to working with Mayor-elect Lightfoot to address those challenges,” Preckwinkle said.
After that event, Lightfoot met with Mayor Emanuel at City Hall, and while the meeting was closed to press, both politicians said it was a productive first step in what the mayor hopes will be a “smooth” transition.
Local
“Today we had a positive and productive conversation about the challenges and opportunities facing our city,” the pair said in a joint statement. “It is abundantly clear that we both share a deep love for this city and a commitment to work together to move all of its communities forward. We’ve both made it clear to our teams that they should continue working in collaboration to ensure the smoothest possible transition.”
Lightfoot emphasized that she feels her first 100 days in office began the day after the election, and as part of that push she met with the Chicago Police superintendent to talk about ways to curb violence in Chicago.
During the campaign, Lightfoot said that she does not plan to immediately replace Johnson, but asked for details on his plans to fight crime over the summer in Chicago.
Lightfoot will officially take office on May 20.
