Politics

(Corrects paragraph 2 to say previous protest was last Thursday, not Friday)

By Brad Brooks

(Reuters) -Republicans who control the Tennessee House of Representatives will vote on Thursday on whether to expel three Democratic members for their role in a gun control demonstration at the statehouse last week.

Last Thursday’s protest saw hundreds of demonstrators flood into the statehouse, four days after a Nashville school shooting ended with three 9-year-old children and three school staff members dead.

Three Democratic lawmakers stood on the House floor and used a bullhorn to lead protesters in chanting demands for stricter gun laws. In the resolutions calling for their expulsion, Republicans accused the three of engaging in “disorderly behavior” and said they “did knowingly and intentionally bring disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives through their individual and collective actions.”

The expulsion vote is likely to easily pass in the Republican-dominated House and lead to the ouster of Rep. Gloria Johnson, Rep. Justin Jones and Rep. Justin Pearson. They say they were within their First Amendment rights to take part in the protest.

“It’s morally insane that a week after a mass shooting took six lives in our community, House Republicans only response is to expel us for standing with our constituents to call for gun control,” Jones wrote on Twitter this week. “What’s happening in Tennessee is a clear danger to democracy all across this nation.”

Republicans Rep. Andrew Farmer, Rep. Gino Bulso, and Rep. Bud Hulsey filed three resolutions on Monday to expel their Democratic colleagues. The resolutions on Monday passed in a preliminary vote along party lines, 72-23.

Only two Tennessee state representatives have previously been expelled by their colleagues since the Civil War era: one in 1980 for soliciting a bribe in exchange for blocking legislation, and another in 2016 after being accused of sexual misconduct by numerous women. Both those expulsions were made with overwhelming, bipartisan votes.

The Democratic Party in Tennessee is raising funds to support Johnson, Jones and Pearson in special elections that will take place if they are expelled.

(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Lubbock, Texas; editing by Donna Bryson and Diane Craft)

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By Brad Brooks

(Reuters) -Republicans who control the Tennessee House of Representatives will vote on Thursday on whether to expel three Democratic members for their role in a gun control demonstration at the statehouse last week.

Last Friday’s protest saw hundreds of demonstrators flood into the statehouse, four days after a Nashville school shooting ended with three 9-year-old children and three school staff members dead.

Three Democratic lawmakers stood on the House floor and used a bullhorn to lead protesters in chanting demands for stricter gun laws. In the resolutions calling for their expulsion, Republicans accused the three of engaging in “disorderly behavior” and said they “did knowingly and intentionally bring disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives through their individual and collective actions.”

The expulsion vote is likely to easily pass in the Republican-dominated House and lead to the ouster of Representatives Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson. They say that taking part in the protest was within their First Amendment rights – the constitutional right to freedom of speech.

“It’s morally insane that a week after a mass shooting took six lives in our community, House Republicans only response is to expel us for standing with our constituents to call for gun control,” Jones wrote on Twitter this week. “What’s happening in Tennessee is a clear danger to democracy all across this nation.”

Protesters gathered again outside the state house in the rain on Thursday, holding signs in favor of stricter gun control.

Republican Representatives Andrew Farmer, Gino Bulso, and Bud Hulsey filed three resolutions on Monday to expel their Democratic colleagues. The resolutions on Monday passed in a preliminary vote along party lines, 72-23.

Only two Tennessee state representatives have previously been expelled by their colleagues since the Civil War era: one in 1980 for soliciting a bribe in exchange for blocking legislation, and another in 2016 after being accused of sexual misconduct by numerous women. Both those expulsions were made with overwhelming, bipartisan votes.

The Democratic Party in Tennessee is raising funds to support Johnson, Jones and Pearson in special elections that will take place if they are expelled.

(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Lubbock, Texas; editing by Donna Bryson and Diane Craft)

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By Rami Ayyub

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on his fellow Republicans in Congress to slash funding for the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI, one day after pleading not guilty in New York to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Trump, who is seeking to regain the presidency in 2024, took aim at federal law enforcement authorities even though the criminal charges against him – the first brought against any former or sitting president – were pursued not by them but by the Manhattan district attorney.

But Trump faces two Justice Department criminal investigations led by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. Both have seemed to accelerate in recent months.

“REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS SHOULD DEFUND THE DOJ AND FBI UNTIL THEY COME TO THEIR SENSES,” Trump wrote on his social media platform. DOJ stands for the Department of Justice.

Trump’s proposal is unlikely to be heeded by Congress, with Democrats controlling the Senate and Republicans leading the House of Representatives. It would also be a sharp turn for Republicans, who in the past have supported robust funding for law enforcement and have criticized proposals from some on the left in recent years to “defund” local police departments.

Congressional Republicans have called for sharp federal spending cuts in return for voting to raise the U.S. debt ceiling but have yet to put forward specific proposals.

The FBI, part of the Justice Department, is the U.S. domestic intelligence and security agency. Trump himself appointed the current FBI director, Christopher Wray, after firing its previous chief, James Comey, in 2017.

Trump backed spending increases for the Justice Department while serving as president from 2017 to 2021. Its budget increased 4% during that span to $38.7 billion, White House figures showed.

One of the special counsel’s investigations focuses on efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost to Democratic President Joe Biden.

Former Vice President Mike Pence has decided not to appeal a judge’s ruling requiring him to testify to a grand jury in that investigation about conversations he had with Trump ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters, a Pence spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Smith’s other investigation focuses on classified documents that Trump retained after leaving office.

The FBI on Wednesday declined to comment on Trump’s remarks. The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Reduced funding for federal law enforcement also would not affect another criminal investigation involving Trump led by a county prosecutor in Georgia, focusing on whether he unlawfully sought to overturn his 2020 election loss in that state.

PAYMENTS TO TWO WOMEN

The office of Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, charged Trump on Tuesday with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records over allegations that he orchestrated payments to two women before the 2016 election to suppress publication of their sexual encounters with him.

Prosecutors said the payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal constituted an attempt to conceal a violation of election law.

Opinion polls show Trump as the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination as he seeks to deny Biden a second term in office.

Trump over the years has complained that law enforcement at the national and state level were targeting him for political purposes, and his fellow Republicans in Congress have held hearings to examine what they describe as the “weaponization” of government.

He and his allies have accused Bragg, a Democrat, of bringing the charges for political reasons. Bragg in comments after the charges were brought on Tuesday said he has a responsibility to ensure everyone stands equal before the law.

Trump appeared at an arraignment in New York on Tuesday before flying back to his home in Florida to make public remarks. He declared himself the victim of election interference, without offering evidence.

The judge in the Manhattan case, Juan Merchan, has set the next hearing for Dec. 4, when campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination will be intensifying. Legal experts have said a trial may not start for a year.

Indictment or even conviction does not legally prevent a person from running for president.

In court on Tuesday, prosecutors raised concerns about Trump’s social media posts, which have included a warning he made last month that the United States could face “death & destruction” if he were charged, and posting a photograph of him holding a baseball bat next to a picture of Bragg.

Merchan asked Trump’s lawyers to remind the former president to refrain from making statements likely to incite violence or civil unrest, or jeopardize the safety of individuals.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he does not agree with the charges brought against Trump.

“Supposedly legal issues should not be used for electoral, political purposes,” Lopez Obrador told a news conference in Mexico City.

Lopez Obrador, who took office in 2018, developed a friendly working relationship with then-counterpart Trump, despite the U.S. president launching his 2016 election campaign by calling Mexican migrants rapists and drug runners and promising to make Mexico pay for a border wall.

(Reporting by Rami Ayyub; Additional reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and David Morgan in Washington and Karen Freifeld in New York; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by Will Dunham and Andy Sullivan)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former Vice President Mike Pence will not appeal a judge’s ruling that requires him to testify to a grand jury about conversations he had with former President Donald Trump leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, a spokesman for Pence said on Wednesday.

In a March ruling, the judge also said Pence can still decline to answer questions related to Jan. 6.

Pence spokesman Devin O’Malley said in a statement on Wednesday that Pence’s argument that the subpoena violated the U.S. Constitution’s “Speech or Debate Clause” had been vindicated by the court.

“The Court’s landmark and historic ruling affirmed for the first time in history that the Speech or Debate Clause extends to the Vice President of the United States,” O’Malley said. “Having vindicated that principle of the Constitution, Vice President Pence will not appeal the Judge’s ruling and will comply with the subpoena as required by law.”

(Reporting by Jeff Mason in Washington; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Alistair Bell)

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By Gram Slattery

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican U.S. presidential candidate Nikki Haley has raised more than $11 million since declaring her candidacy in February, her campaign said on Wednesday, a significant sum that could help her expand her support in the coming months.

Haley’s campaign said it has received 70,000 donations since she declared her bid on Feb. 15, with the biggest hauls coming from Florida, Texas and South Carolina. It noted that Haley’s fundraising figure exceeded the $9.5 million raised by rival Donald Trump in the fourth quarter of 2022, when he declared his candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

“That’s a very solid number and a testament to what a strong launch she had,” Alex Conant, a Republican strategist, said of Haley’s fundraising numbers. “The key question is: will she be able to build momentum in the second quarter, especially as Trump surges?”

Trump’s campaign said he has raised $8 million since last Thursday, when news broke that he would face criminal charges in Manhattan in a case related to hush-money payments during his 2016 campaign. Trump, who pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, has not yet released fundraising totals for the first quarter of the year.

Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, is polling in a distant third place in the Republican race, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday. Some 6% of Republican primary voters intend to vote for Haley, according to the poll, versus 48% for Trump and 19% for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has not yet entered the race.

The Republicans are aiming to deny Democratic President Joe Biden a second term in 2024.

(Reporting by Gram Slattery; editing by Will Dunham and Andy Sullivan)

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By Joseph Ax and Daniel Trotta

(Reuters) – Wisconsin voters on Tuesday elected liberal Janet Protasiewicz to the state Supreme Court, flipping control to a liberal majority ahead of rulings on an abortion ban and other matters that could play a role in the 2024 presidential election.

Protasiewicz defeated conservative candidate Daniel Kelly in what New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice called the most expensive judicial election in U.S. history. More than $42.3 million had been spent as of Monday, according to a WisPolitics.com review, far outstripping the previous record of $15.2 million.

In a major victory for abortion rights advocates, the result turns a court with a former 4-3 conservative majority to liberal control after 15 years, likely affecting a number of issues that have polarized Americans in other states such as voting rights and partisan control over drawing legislative maps.

But it was abortion that dominated the campaign, with the court expected in the coming months to decide whether to uphold the state’s 1849 abortion ban.

That law took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year to eliminate a nationwide right to abortion by reversing Roe v. Wade and granting individual states the authority to ban abortion.

With 75% of the ballots counted, Protasiewicz had 55.4% of the vote to 44.6% for Kelly, a lead of nearly 160,000 votes, according to the Associated Press.

The wide margin in a normally closely contested state suggests Democrats have continued to benefit politically from the Roe decision, which has brought motivated voters to the polls.

Protasiewicz put abortion at the center of her campaign, saying in one advertisement that she supports “a woman’s freedom to make her own decision on abortion.” Kelly, meanwhile, won the endorsement of anti-abortion groups.

“Tonight we celebrate this historic victory that has obviously reignited hope in so many of us,” Protasiewicz told a victory celebration.

Republicans also underperformed expectations last November in the first national elections since the court struck down Roe.

Kelly reluctantly conceded in an address to supporters, calling Protasiewicz an unworthy opponent who ran a “deceitful, dishonorable, despicable campaign.”

But he added, “I respect the decision that the people of Wisconsin have made.”

The election’s outcome also holds major implications for the political future of the battleground state. Just as it did in 2020, the court could issue crucial voting decisions before and after the 2024 presidential election, when Wisconsin is again poised to be a vital swing state.

In addition, the court may revisit the state’s congressional and legislative maps, which Republicans have drawn to maximize their political advantage.

While the election is technically nonpartisan, neither Protasiewicz nor Kelly made much effort to hide their ideological bent. The state Democratic and Republican parties poured resources into their favored campaigns, and outside organizations spent millions of dollars supporting their preferred candidate, including anti- and pro-abortion rights groups.

Democrats asserted a Kelly victory could have endangered democracy itself in Wisconsin, noting that a lawsuit from Republican Donald Trump challenging his presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 came within one vote of succeeding at the court.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax in New York and Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, California; Editing by Matthew Lewis, Stephen Coates and Gerry Doyle)

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen is set to meet U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday in the first such meeting on U.S. soil, drawing threats of retaliation from China, which claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own.

China staged war games around Taiwan last August following the visit to Taipei of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Taiwan’s defence ministry said a Chinese aircraft carrier group was in the waters off the island’s southeast coast ahead of the meeting between Tsai and McCarthy in California.

In Brussels, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told a news conference there was nothing new about a Taiwanese president transiting through the United States and Beijing should not use it as an excuse to take any action or ratchet up tensions.

McCarthy, a Republican who through his House position is number three in the U.S. leadership hierarchy, was due to host Tsai on Wednesday morning at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, near Los Angeles.

It will be the highest-level meeting with a Taiwanese president on U.S. soil since Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.

It is sure to draw a strong reaction from Beijing, which considers Taiwan part of its territory and has vowed to bring it under its control, by force if necessary.

The visit to Taipei of McCarthy’s Democratic predecessor provoked a furious response from China, which fired missiles over Taiwan and cut military contacts with Washington.

China has repeatedly warned against a meeting between McCarthy and Tsai, who is on her first U.S. stopover since 2019, although some analysts expect its reaction to be more moderate than that to Pelosi’s Taipei visit.

A meeting in California is seen as a potentially less provocative alternative to McCarthy visiting Taiwan, something he has said he hopes to do.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said the Chinese carrier group was headed for training in the Western Pacific and Taiwanese naval and air forces and land-based radar systems closely monitored them.

It said the ships, led by the carrier the Shandong, passed through the Bashi Channel separating Taiwan from the Philippines and then into waters to Taiwan’s southeast.

China has sailed its aircraft carriers near to Taiwan before and at similarly sensitive times. It has yet to comment on the carrier group, whose appearance also coincided with the arrival in Beijing of French President Emmanuel Macron.

In March of last year, the Shandong sailed through the Taiwan Strait just hours before the Chinese and U.S. presidents were due to talk.

Tsai transited through New York last week en route to Central America to visit two of Taiwan’s few remaining diplomatic partners, Guatemala and Belize.

Washington called on China not to overreact, portraying Tsai’s stopovers as routine and a normal part of its unofficial relationship with Taiwan.

However, the United States, which is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, has stepped up interactions with Taipei in recent years as Beijing’s pressure on the island has increased.

Xu Xueyuan, charge d’affaires at China’s Washington embassy, said last week that McCarthy meeting Tsai “could lead to another serious confrontation in the China-U.S. relationship”. On Tuesday China’s foreign ministry said it would “closely monitor” the meeting and “resolutely defend” Chinese sovereignty.

White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told a regular news briefing on Tuesday that Tsai’s transit was “private” and “unofficial.”

“President Tsai herself has made this transit about six times before and again there should be no reason for China to overreact,” she said, adding there had been no change to the U.S. “One-China” policy that recognizes Beijing diplomatically not Taipei.

Since Pelosi’s visit, U.S.-Chinese relations have deteriorated to what some say is their worst level since 1979.

February saw the dramatic shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon that drifted over U.S. territory, and fears have only grown that Beijing may eventually be emboldened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to move militarily against Taiwan.

(Reporting by Michael Martina and David Brunnstrom; additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei; editing by Don Durfee, Lincoln Feast and Mark Heinrich)

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By Rami Ayyub

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on his fellow Republicans in Congress to slash funding for the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI, going on the offensive a day after pleading not guilty in New York to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Trump, who is seeking to regain the presidency in 2024, took aim at federal law enforcement authorities even though the historic criminal charges against him – the first brought against any former or sitting president – were pursued by the Manhattan district attorney.

“REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS SHOULD DEFUND THE DOJ AND FBI UNTIL THEY COME TO THEIR SENSES,” Trump wrote on his social media platform. DOJ stands for the Department of Justice.

Republicans in the past have supported robust funding for law enforcement and have criticized proposals from some on the left in recent years to “defund” local police departments. Trump, who served as president from 2017 to 2021, backed spending increases for the Justice Department and FBI while in office. The FBI is the U.S. domestic intelligence and security agency.

Trump faces two Justice Department criminal investigations led by a special counsel appointed by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. One focuses on efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election that he lost to Democratic President Joe Biden and the other focuses on classified documents that Trump retained after leaving office.

Trump himself appointed the current FBI director, Christopher Wray, after firing the agency’s previous chief, James Comey, in 2017.

Congress appears unlikely to follow through on Trump’s demand. Republicans control the House of Representatives and Democrats control the Senate.

The FBI on Wednesday declined to comment on Trump’s remarks.

Reduced funding for federal law enforcement also would not affect another criminal investigation involving Trump led by a county prosecutor in Georgia, focusing on whether he unlawfully sought to overturn his 2020 election loss in that state.

The office of Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, charged Trump on Tuesday with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records over allegations that he orchestrated payments to two women before the 2016 election to suppress publication of their sexual encounters with him. Prosecutors said the payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal constituted an attempt to conceal a violation of election law.

Opinion polls show Trump as the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination as he seeks to deny Biden a second term in office.

Trump has over the years complained that law enforcement at the national and state level were targeting him for political purposes, and his fellow Republicans in Congress have held hearings to examine what they describe as the “weaponization” of government.

Trump and his allies have accused Bragg, a Democrat, of bringing the charges for political reasons. Bragg in comments after the charges were brought on Tuesday said he has a responsibility to ensure everyone stands equal before the law.

Trump appeared at an arraignment in New York on Tuesday before flying back to his home in Florida to make public remarks. He declared himself the victim of election interference, without offering evidence.

“I never thought anything like this could happen in America,” Trump told supporters gathered at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach. “The only crime that I’ve committed has been to fearlessly defend our nation against those who seek to destroy it.”

Trump accused Bragg of being out to get him “before he knew anything about me.” He said the judge in the case, Juan Merchan, is “a Trump-hating judge.”

Merchan has set the next hearing in the Trump case for Dec. 4. Legal experts said a trial may not even get under way for a year. Indictment or even conviction does not legally prevent a person from running for president.

(Reporting by Rami Ayyub; Editing by Will Dunham and Andy Sullivan)

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By Nathan Layne and Rich McKay

PALM BEACH, Florida (Reuters) -A subdued former President Donald Trump lashed out on Tuesday at New York prosecutor Alvin Bragg for bringing criminal charges against him and declared himself the victim of election interference without offering evidence.

“I never thought anything like this could happen in America,” Trump told supporters gathered at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida. “The only crime that I’ve committed has been to fearlessly defend our nation against those who seek to destroy it.”

Earlier, Trump pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan court to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, as prosecutors accused him of orchestrating payments to two women before the 2016 election to suppress publication of their sexual encounters with him.

Trump, running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, on Tuesday night in Florida gave a relatively short speech, 25 minutes, compared to his rally speeches that can sometimes last two hours.

Despite launching a tirade against prosecutors, he did not call for new protests from his supporters. And while he is expected to return to the campaign trail soon, he gave no details of that.

Trump, 76, reached deep into his well of personal grievances to declare himself hounded by political opponents using the legal system against him to try to stop him from winning back the White House in 2024.

Trump accused Manhattan District Attorney Bragg of being out to get him “before he knew anything about me.” He said the judge in the case, Juan Merchan, is “a Trump-hating judge.” But he did not offer any evidence to support his claim that they were taking their actions in order to undermine his White House bid.

ATTACKS LEGAL CASES

Trump took fresh shots at all the various legal cases against him, from the handling of classified documents that were taken to Mar-a-Lago when Trump moved out of the White House in early 2021, the probe into the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol and the election interference case he is facing in Georgia from the 2020 election.

Trump expressed particular concern about the documents case being investigated by special counsel Jack Smith, who he called a “lunatic” several times.

He said the cases amount to an attempt to thwart his third run for the presidency, calling it “massive election interference at a scale never seen.”

Gathered before him in a gilt-edged ballroom at Mar-a-Lago were a number of combative, diehard Trump backers, including Republican lawmakers Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz, long-time operative Roger Stone, pillow maker Mike Lindell, former U.S. ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell and Trump sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.

Trump’s wife, Melania, was not seen in the ballroom.

SHOW OF SUPPORT

Among the hundreds there was Nathan Mitchell, 18, the incoming president of the Florida Atlantic University’s college Republicans club.

He said he was there to support a man who represents “the best chance that America has to become great again.”

Of the accusations brought against Trump, Mitchell said, “It humiliates us all in front of the world.”

Wearing a black leather biker vest, with a “Born to Ride” patch above the number 45, Alex Gonzalez, 45, who operates a security company in Palm Beach said he was there to show the former president that the people believe in him.

“It’s all a charade, man, it’s all a witch hunt,” Gonzalez said of the indictment. “Trump should not be held above the law – if he does something wrong he should be held liable like anybody else. But this is BS and everybody knows it.”

(Reporting by Nathan Layne and Rich McKay in Palm Beach; Writing by Steve Holland; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Grant McCool)

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By Brendan O’Brien and Dan Whitcomb

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Brandon Johnson was elected Chicago mayor on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press, defeating Paul Vallas in a runoff between two Democrats to take over a city grappling with crime, an issue that dominated the race after incumbent Lori Lightfoot was eliminated in February.

Johnson, a 47-year-old Cook County Commissioner, becomes the 57th mayor of the third-largest U.S. city.

Vallas and Johnson squared off in the runoff election after Lightfoot, also a Democrat, finished third out of nine candidates in the previous round when no one managed to cross the 50% line.

The nonpartisan race in the heavily left-leaning city was a test for Democratic messaging on policing in the U.S., three years after widespread protests following the police murder of George Floyd. Republicans sought to bludgeon Democrats over the issue in the 2022 midterm elections.

Vallas called for more police officers, while Johnson suggested more mental health support and opportunities for young people.

Johnson will inherit a city in which the number of murders since 2018 has increased by 20%. In 2021, there were 804 murders, the most in a quarter-century. Car thefts have doubled and other types of theft have risen by a quarter over the last five years.

Lightfoot, the first Black woman and first openly gay person to serve as the city’s mayor, had been bidding for a second four-year term. But her handling of crime and a series of crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, racial justice protests, and a protracted teachers’ strike, sapped her support.

Johnson, a former Chicago teacher and union organizer, says he will promote 200 new detectives from the existing pool of police officers. He also wants to strengthen police accountability.

On day one, the winner will have a variety of other issues to address, including a struggling public school system, the city’s fiscal woes and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic that closed many businesses and offices.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Chicago and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Editing by Donna Bryson and Matthew Lewis)

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