The current mayor of Chicago, Illinois, is Lori Lightfoot. Like every other mayor of Chicago for more than 90 years, Lightfoot is a member of the Democratic Party. She was elected to the office in 2019.
Lightfoot has already announced that she is running for another term in the next Chicago mayoral election. That particular event is slated to take place next year. But Lightfoot is not alone in announcing her candidacy. Several other Democrats have put their name forward. And more still may decide to give it a go, including several high-profile possibilities.
Former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn is considering entering the race
Pat Quinn is thinking about running for the mayorship of Chicago, reports WMAQ-TV. Quinn has in the past held the top two political offices in the State of Illinois. He won the nod as U.S. Representative and Governor-to-be Rod Blagojevich's potential lieutenant governor. Blagovich's gubernatorial victories in 2002 and 2006 would eventually make it so.
In 2009, Blagojevich was removed from office after being impeached and convicted by the Illinois General Assembly. As a result, Quinn was elevated to become the state's new governor. The following year, he ran for a full gubernatorial term in his own right. In the Democratic primary, he narrowly defeated a challenger in State Comptroller Daniel Hynes.
The general election would also produce close results. Quinn managed to squeak by Republican State Senator Bill Brady. Brady later went on to become the minority leader of the Illinois Senate.
Things went somewhat differently in the next gubernatorial election cycle four years later. Pat Quinn had a much easier time securing the Democratic nomination in the primary.
But he would lose in the general election to the Republican nominee, businessman Bruce Rauner.
Quinn ran for attorney general afterward.
In 2018, Quinn was a candidate in the Democratic primary for Illinois attorney general. He lost to State Senator Kwame Raoul, who won the general election.
Quinn graduated from Georgetown University's Edmund A.
Walsh School of Foreign Service and the Northwestern University School of Law. He was also a staffer for Governor Daniel Walker. In 1982, he was elected to what is now the Cook County Board of Review. Four years later, Quinn unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for state treasurer.
After working in the administration of Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, Quinn won the 1990 election for state treasurer. He followed that by losing the 1994 Illinois secretary of state race to Republican incumbent George Ryan. Ryan later became governor before going to federal prison, similar to Blagojevich. In 1996, Quinn lost the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate election to U.S. Representative Richard Durbin.
Durbin is currently the Senate majority whip and chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. In 1998, he sought the Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial nod for the first time. He lost a particularly contentious campaign to Kane County Coroner Mary Lou Kearns.
Chuy Garcia is also pondering making a second run for the mayoralty
Chuy Garcia is a native of Durango in central Mexico. As a child, he emigrated to the United States, and his family settled in Chicago. In 1977, Garcia earned citizenship in the United States. He later graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
According to Politico, Garcia might join the race to become the next mayor of Chicago. It would be his second attempt to win the office.
He previously ran in 2015, losing handily to former U.S. Representative and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
In 2018, longtime Democratic incumbent Luis Gutierrez did not run for re-election to the United States House of Representatives. He held his seat in the 4th District of Illinois. Garcia won the race to succeed Gutierrez and was re-elected in 2020. He sits on the House Committees on Financial Services, Natural Resources, and Transportation and Infrastructure.
Garcia's first electoral victory came in a 1986 special election for the Chicago City Council. He later won full terms in 1987 and 1991. In 1992 and 1996, he won a seat in the Illinois Senate. Garcia lost his 1998 re-election bid in the Democratic primary to eventual general election winner Antonio Munoz. Twelve years later, Garcia beat incumbent Joseph Mario Moreno in the Democratic primary for a seat on the Cook County Board of Commissioners. He won the general election that year and again in 2014.
