Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and former Mayor Rahm Emanuel have both offered their congratulations to Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, who has been projected as the winner of the city's mayoral runoff election.
Johnson will apparently become the city's 57th mayor next month, and Lightfoot issued a statement congratulating him on his victory.
"I congratulate Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson on his hard-fought runoff victory this evening," she said. "It is time for all of us as Chicagoans, regardless of our ZIP code or neighborhood, our race or ethnicity, the creator we worship, or who we love, to come together and recommit ourselves to uniting around our shared present and future. My entire team and I stand ready to collaborate throughout the transition period.
"As always, I will continue to root for the city I call home, and to work toward more equity and fairness in every neighborhood. I am hopeful and optimistic that the incoming administration will carry forth our work to that end," she added.
Lightfoot finished third in the Feb. 28 general election, paving the way for a runoff between Johnson and former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas.
Emanuel, currently the U.S. ambassador to Japan, tweeted his congratulations to Johnson.
"Congratulations to Brandon Johnson on being elected the 57th mayor of Chicago," he said. "It's a job of a lifetime, Brandon. Your success is the Second City's success -- and I'm rooting for your success."
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Johnson will be inaugurated as mayor next month, facing a divided electorate. With 99.23% of precincts reporting, Johnson is ahead of Vallas by just under 16,000 votes, with tens of thousands of mail-in ballots still to be potentially counted.
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