Chicago Mayor Lightfoot ousted

Continued from A1 her first term in 2019 after promising to end decades of corruption and backroom dealing at City Hall. But opponents blamed Ms. Lightfoot for an increase in crime that occured in cities across the U.S. during the pandemic and criticized her as being a divisive, overly contentious leader.

She is the first elected Chicago mayor to lose a re-election bid since 1983, when Jane Byrne, the city’s first female mayor, lost her Democratic primary.

Speaking to supporters Tuesday night, Ms. Lightfoot called being Chicago’s mayor “the honor of a lifetime.”

“Regardless of tonight’s outcome, we fought the right fights and we put this city on a better path,” Ms. Lightfoot said. She told her fellow mayors around the country not to fear being bold.

At his victory party, Mr. Vallas noted that Ms. Lightfoot had called to congratulate him and asked the crowd to give her a round of applause. In a nod to his campaign promise to combat crime, he said that, if elected, he would work to address public safety issues.

“We will have a safe Chicago. We will make Chicago the safest city in America,” Mr. Vallas said.

Mr. Johnson on Tuesday night noted the improbability that he would make the runoff, considering his low name recogni- tion at the start of the race.

“A few months ago they said they didn’t know who I was. Well, if you didn’t know, now you know,” Mr. Johnson said. He thanked the unions that supported him and gave a special shout-out to his wife, telling the crowd, “Chicago, a Black woman will still be in charge.”

Ms. Lightfoot’s loss is unusual for mayors in large cities, who have tended to win re-election with relative ease. But it’s also a sign of the turmoil in U.S. cities following the COVID-19 pandemic, with its economic fallout and spikes in violent crime in many places.

There are clear contrasts between Mr. Vallas and Mr. Johnson.

Mr. Vallas served as an adviser to the Fraternal Order of Police during its negotiations with Ms. Lightfoot’s administration. He has called for adding hundreds of police officers to patrol the city, saying crime is out of control and morale among officers sunk to a new low during Ms. Lightfoot’s tenure.

Mr. Johnson received about $1 million from the Chicago Teachers Union for his campaign and had support from several other progressive organizations, including United Working Families. The former teacher and union organizer has argued that the answer to addressing crime is not more money for police but more investment in mental health care, education, jobs and affordable housing, and he was accused by rivals such as Ms. Lightfoot of wanting to defund the police. Crime was an issue that resonated with voters.

Rita DiPietro, who lives downtown, said she supported Ms. Lightfoot in 2019. But she voted for Mr. Vallas on Tuesday, saying she was impressed by his detailed strategy to address public safety.

“The candidates all talk about what they’d like to do,” she said. “This guy actually has a plan. He knows how he’s going to do it.”

Race also was a factor as candidates courted votes in the highly segregated city, which is closely divided in population among Black, Hispanic and white residents. Mr. Vallas was the only white candidate in the field. Ms. Lightfoot, Mr. Johnson and five other candidates are Black, though Ms. Lightfoot argued she was the only Black candidate who could win. U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia was the only Latino in the race.

Ms. Lightfoot accused Mr. Vallas of using “the ultimate dog whistle” by saying his campaign is about “taking back our city,” and of cozying up to the president of the Fraternal Order of Police, whom she calls a racist. A recent Chicago Tribune story also found Mr. Vallas’ Twitter account had liked racist tweets and tweets that mocked Ms. Lightfoot’s appearance and referred to her as masculine.

Virginia Supreme Court approves ‘Waverly Two’ appeal

Continued from A1 will be heard on the June or September docket,” Mr. Adams said. “This unusually quick decision is a significant victory for Mr. Richardson in his effort to prove his innocence in the Virginia Courts.”

Mr. Richardson, 27 at the time of the murder, and Mr. Claiborne, who was 22, initially pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in state court in 1999, as part of a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. Two years later, a federal judge sentenced them to life in prison after charging Mr. Richardson and Mr. Claiborne with conspiracy to distribute drugs.

While a jury had acquitted the two of Officer Gibson’s murder in 1999, the judge cited their earlier guilty pleas as cause in the conviction. Mr. Richardson and Mr. Claiborne would begin their effort to be exonerated years later after it was revealed that evidence had been withheld from their lawyers, including false statements given by a key witness.

Mr. Richardson and Mr. Claiborne’s efforts have garnered them multiple high-profile supporters, including former state Delegate Jerrauld C. Jones and the Virginia NAACP. A major advocate was former Attorney General Mark R. Herring, who wrote a 78-page brief supporting Mr. Richardson’s petition, and whose Conviction Integrity Unit spent months investigating the case and the facts surrounding it.

“It is clear from the record that some information and evidence presented in Mr.

Richardson’s federal trial was unavailable to him when he pled guilty in state court,” Mr. Herring wrote in his brief. “No rational fact-finder would have found Richardson guilty had that information been presented in his proceeding in state court. The federal jury acquittal is conclusive in that regard.”

The Attorney General’s Office support ended, however, when Attorney General Jason Miyares assumed the role in 2022, leading to a quick reversal in their advocacy for Mr. Richardson and Mr. Claiborne.

Mr. Richardson’s opening brief is due in the Supreme Court on Wednesday, April 5, and both he and Mr. Claiborne are also waiting for any response to their Presidential Clemency Petition.