Top Story
It’s Election Day in Chicago. Voters will decide today which candidates they want on the City Council and new police district councils, and which of the nine contenders for mayor will take the city’s top job. Incumbent Lori Lightfoot, while polling near the top of the field, is unlikely to capture the 50 percent of votes needed to avoid a two-person runoff election in April — and it’s possible that she could become the first Chicago mayor to lose reelection in over 30 years.
Public safety and policing emerged as top issues in the heated race, as Lightfoot’s challengers blamed her for the city’s crime. Organizers would like to see the city take a community-centered approach to reducing shootings, The Trace’s Rita Oceguera reported last month, but top-polling candidates, including Lightfoot, are focused on improving and investing in policing. Front-runner Paul Vallas, a former Chicago Public Schools CEO who was endorsed by the police union, has run a hard-line “law and order” campaign.
Camiella Williams, an organizer with youth-led violence prevention organization GoodKids MadCity, told Oceguera she’s worried that none of the candidates have a feasible plan to address the city’s gun violence. “They’re saying they want violence to stop,” she said. “But at the end of the day, a lot of them don’t know what that actually looks like.”
For the latest on the race results, we’ll be following coverage at the Chicago Sun-Times.
What to Know Today
In 1973, Native activists occupied the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, in a 71-day standoff with the U.S. government and other law enforcement agencies that often saw the two sides exchange gunfire. The legacy of the siege, which shone a light on the movement for Native Americans’ civil rights, lives on 50 years later. [ICT]
In Baltimore, 1 in 3 shooting victims so far this year were high school-aged or younger, and the vast majority of those victims are between the ages of 13 and 18. Many of these shootings happened near schools. [The Baltimore Banner]
A group of Washington, D.C.-area universities released a set of recommendations to reduce gun violence in the U.S., calling for an expansion of violence interruption programs and firearm safety training as well as national education campaigns. [Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area]
A Texas superintendent whose gun was found by a third grader in an elementary school bathroom has resigned. The school official said the firearm had been left unattended for 15 minutes, and students reportedly did not touch the gun. [Insider/The Washington Post]
Police shootings in rural areas rarely make headlines: Many officers don’t wear body cameras, and oftentimes there are no witnesses. In Kentucky, the problem is especially pronounced. [Inside Story]
Members of Rainbow Reload, a shooting group for gay and trans people in New Hampshire, say their interest in guns is more than a hobby — they’re preparing to defend themselves from hate groups. It’s one of a number of such clubs nationwide. [NPR]
An Arizona rancher who allegedly fired an AK-47 rifle at a group of migrants, killing one, will face trial on second-degree murder and assault charges, a judge ruled Friday. [Associated Press]
Data Point
~1,200 — the number of people in rural areas shot and killed by police between 2015 and 2020. In cities, there were more than 2,100 such deaths. [The Marshall Project]
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