Chicago Sun-Times columnist Laura Washington told Hill.TV on Wednesday that the city’s mayoral run-off race is reflective of the national mood demanding more female representation in politics.
“I think it mirrors what’s going on in the country,” Washington told hosts Krystal Ball and Buck Sexton on “Rising.”
“The excitement about women candidates, in particular, especially particularly around African-American women candidates. African-American women have driven the last couple of national election cycles in terms of their turnout,” she continued.
“I think there is a lot of conversation about this city being very divided racially, segregated, and that it is a tale of two cities where African-American and Latino communities have been left out of the conversation and left out of the vital resources that they need,” she said.
Democrats Lori Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle, both African-American women, advanced last month to the city’s run-off election.
The election, set to be held on April 2, is historic because the winner will be the city’s first African-American chief executive.
Lightfoot is also openly gay and would be the first openly LGBT mayor of the city.
The 2018 midterm elections saw a wave of women and women of color elected to Congress.
A handful of women are also running for president, including Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii).
— Julia Manchester
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