There were bagpipes, confetti cannons and a classic 1940 maroon Cadillac at a City Hall goodbye for outgoing Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Friday.
Crowds erupted in applause as Lightfoot left the building on her last full work day, capping off her four-year tenure. The mayor, surrounded by dozens, if not a hundred people or more, walked through the lobby to the main entrance. With her wife, Amy Eshelman, at her side, Lightfoot waved to the assembled crowd of staff, well-wishers and passersby who came to see her leave her fifth floor office and the neoclassical building one final time.
The first Black woman and first openly gay person to serve as mayor of Chicago, Lightfoot was elected in 2019. In February, she failed to get enough votes to move to April’s runoff election, becoming the first sitting mayor to lose re-election in 40 years.
Lightfoot will remain in office until Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson is officially sworn in on Monday morning.
