Lori Lightfoot plays race and gender cards as support from voters slips
Chicago radio host Ray Stevens discusses the importance of crime in the upcoming mayoral race in which Lori Lightfoot will face off against a field of challengers.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was put on blast by critics for blaming her dwindling re-election prospects on race and gender instead of the city's crime crisis.
"I'm a Black woman and, let's not forget, some folks frankly don't support us in leadership roles," Lightfoot told The New Yorker recently.
"I think Lori's time is up," local radio host Ray Stevens responded Monday on "Fox & Friends First."
Chicago's mayoral candidates will vie for the office on Tuesday, February 28, 2023. (Fox & Friends First/Screengrab)
"Personally, I don't [think she can pull off this race], but I've been wrong before as the polls have in the past," he said earlier in the segment.
Stevens told co-anchors Todd Piro and Ashley Strohmier that, instead of fixating on skin color, the race will boil down to key issues – most importantly, crime.
"Chicago has a rampant crime problem, and not only is it in Chicago, but its has reached the collar counties… crime, crime crime is going to be the issue in this election and, personally, what I'm hearing from my constituents, from listeners, is that it will come down to [Paul] Vallas [or] Brandon Johnson."
In the latest polls, Lightfoot trails Vallas by 19 points and Johnson by two. Jesus Chuy Garcia is also locked in a tight race with Lightfoot.
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot introduces Jazmine Sullivan during 2022 Lollapalooza day one at Grant Park on July 28, 2022 in Chicago. (Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)
"I think those are your two guys," Stevens continued. "There may be a surprise, but I think the rhetoric we just talked about, what you just talked about is what will hurt Lori Lightfoot – crime and she just doesn't come across as somebody that cares about people."
Stevens also noted the majority of the city's leaders are people of color, calling Chicago "very diverse" with a bounty of African-American and Latino candidates populating the ballot.
"I don't think it comes down to race. There are people living in these communities that just want to be safe," he said.
LORI LIGHTFOOT CLAIMS SHE ‘MISSPOKE’ WHEN TELLING VOTERS WHO DON'T SUPPORT HER NOT TO VOTE
Mayor Lori Lightfoot presides over a City Council meeting on Oct. 27, 2021, in Chicago. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Fox News contributor Joe Concha echoed Stevens' remarks, Monday, calling Lightfoot's blame game a "Hail Mary" in her failing campaign.
"When you play the race card from the bottom of the deck, which is what she's doing, that is literally what we're seeing, a Hail Mary here," he said.
"Crime has completely gone out of control under her watch, and she seems to have no solutions around it. This is what happens, elections have consequences, Lori Lightfoot will be gone."
The controversial Chicago mayor also caught flack for her recent comments dissuading voters from heading to the polls if they were not going to cast their vote for her.
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"[Voting for] somebody not named Lightfoot is a vote for Chuy Garcia or Paul Vallas," she said at a campaign event in Grand Crossing.
"If you want them controlling your fate and your destiny, then stay home… then don't vote," she added.
Lightfoot later apologized, chalking up the statement up to misspeaking in the heat of a campaign rally.
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