Lori Lightfoot makes history — becomes first LGBTQ black woman mayor of Chicago

On Tuesday, former Chicago Police Board president Lori Lightfoot was elected mayor of Chicago, who will become the first black woman and the first openly LGBTQ candidate to serve in that role.

No matter which way the election went, Chicago was set to become the largest American city ever to be run by a woman of color. Lightfoot's opponent was Toni Preckwinkle, president of the Cook County Board.

Lightfoot will succeed President Barack Obama's former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, who served two terms as mayor of Chicago and declined to seek a third. Emanuel has suffered anemic approval ratings ever since the 2014 police shooting of Laquan McDonald, a black teenager. Although the police officer involved was ultimately convicted of second-degree murder, the city and the mayor were widely considered to have mishandled the case.

Lightfoot ran on a platform that included legalizing recreational marijuana, progressive municipal taxation, combating gun violence, and reining in excessive force by police.