Lori Lightfoot elected Chicago mayor

CHICAGO - Lori Lightfoot on Tuesday won an overwhelming victory in Chicago's mayoral race, becoming the city's first openly-gay mayor and the first African-American woman to serve as chief executive.

She beat out Toni Preckwinkle -- chief executive of Cook County in which Chicago is located -- by a wide margin of 74 to 26 percent in early voting results with most ballots counted. Preckwinkle is also African-American.

Born in 1962, Lightfoot had been president of the Chicago Police Board before announcing candidacy for Mayor of Chicago in the 2019 elections on May 10, 2018.

It is estimated that some 65 percent of Chicago's 1.6 million registered voters chose to stay at home, and the turnout this year may have hit a record-low of 32 percent.