The Latest: Polls close in Chicago's runoff for mayor
CHICAGO (AP) - The Latest on the Chicago mayoral election (all times local):
7 p.m.
The polls are closed in Chicago and the counting begins to determine who will be the city's next mayor.
The winner between former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle will be Chicago's first black female mayor.
The 56-year-old Lightfoot has never held elected office, which she says fits the times in a city that has seen a scandal-ridden Democratic Party in charge for decades. Lightfoot calls herself "a different kind of Democrat" who wants to end the old ways of doing things.
The 72-year-old Preckwinkle is a former school teacher who served on the Chicago City Council for 19 years before becoming Cook County Board president. She also heads the country's Democratic Party.
___
2:15 p.m.
A 64-year-old dog catcher says he voted for former prosecutor Lori Lightfoot in the Chicago mayor's race because he thought she would be a unifier who would "let everybody in."
John Allison cast his ballot in the mayoral runoff at a polling station at Douglas Park Baptist Church. Fellow voter Truly Gannon also cast her ballot there, for Lightfoot's opponent, Tony Preckwinkle.
Gannon is a 39-year-old dietician and mother of four. She said she thinks Preckwinkle "had more experience."
Either Lightfoot or Preckwinkle will become the city's first black female mayor and succeed Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who isn't seeking re-election. They were the two top vote-getters in the city's 14-person general election in February.
___
6:20 a.m.
Polls are open in Chicago where a runoff election is pitting a veteran politician against a former prosecutor in a race that will end with the city's first black woman in the mayor's office.
Former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle were the top vote-getters in a 14-person general election in February. On Tuesday, one of the Democrats will succeed Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who didn't seek re-election.
The 56-year-old Lightfoot has never held elected office, which she says fits the times in a city that has seen a scandal-ridden Democratic Party in charge for decades. The openly gay Lightfoot calls herself "a different kind of Democrat" who wants to end the old ways of doing things.
The 72-year-old Preckwinkle is a former school teacher who served on the Chicago City Council for 19 years before becoming Cook County Board president. She also heads the country's Democratic Party.
___
12 a.m.
Chicago will have its first black woman as mayor after voters choose between candidates who waged contentious campaigns that highlighted their contrasting political paths.
Former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle were the top vote-getters in a 14-person general election in February to succeed Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who did not seek re-election. They have similar positions on many issues but divergent resumes.
The 56-year-old Lightfoot has never held elected office, which she says fits the times in a city that has seen a scandal-ridden Democratic Party in charge for decades.
The 72-year-old Preckwinkle is a former schoolteacher who served on the Chicago City Council for 19 years before becoming Cook County Board president.