Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot will launch her first television ads of the campaign season this week, with one focused on crime and the other highlighting the city’s recovery from the pandemic.
The campaign commercials mark the first time Lightfoot has run TV ads as she asks voters to give her a second term amid concerns over crime and criticism of her leadership style. Lightfoot faces a challenging reelection fight in a multicandidate field and the commercials reflect the arguments she will make in the coming months.
Advertisement
Crime is a top issue for voters in Chicago, where Lightfoot has acknowledged people don’t feel safe after large spikes in shootings and homicides. The mayor regularly argues that crime is improving, however, pointing to shootings and homicides being down more than 10% year over year.
Still, shootings and homicides are significantly up from when she took office, and she has faced criticism from rivals who say her hand-picked police superintendent, David Brown, is doing a poor job or who criticize the city for overspending on cops instead of investing more in the community.
Advertisement
In an ad called “Delivers Again,” the Lightfoot campaign features two men named Oscar and Felix, after the main characters in the 1968 film “The Odd Couple,” arguing over the subject and defending her record.
“Lightfoot delivers? What about crime?” Felix asks as the two men play video games.
“People don’t know. She’s delivering record spending for violence reduction, getting guns off the street, and more money for police,” Oscar responds. “You know we didn’t get into this mess overnight.”
Oscar reminds Felix, “Getting out of it takes time, and Lightfoot has a plan. Right?”
The camera zooms to Lightfoot, who’s on the phone nearby and says, “I couldn’t have said it better myself.” She then declines Oscar’s invitation to play video games, saying, “Love to, but I’ve got work to do for our city.”
Eric Adelstein, the mayor’s media consultant who is a partner at Adelstein Liston Media, said the ad aims to counteract the narrative “that there’s no plan” on crime.
“I think it’s an attempt to say, we didn’t get into this overnight and we won’t get out of it overnight, but we have a plan and it’s (working),” Adelstein said.
Lightfoot’s other commercial, “Believe,” aims to project a more positive vision for the city. It opens with Lightfoot speaking to a crowd during the 2019 race and then shows her shaking hands with a man in a wheelchair.
Advertisement
“Believe in us. Believe in this city. We have come through hell and back, and we are the better for it,” Lightfoot says as the video jumps between photos of her shaking hands with people and talking into the camera. “Our economy is the best in the country. We are making significant progress in public safety and implemented some of the most progressive policies that are going to make life better.”
The commercial then shows her looking into the camera and declaring, “I’m not going to sit here and tell you we did everything perfectly. We haven’t. But we’ve tried our darndest to make sure that we got it right. And when we haven’t, you pick yourself up, and you listen, and you’re humble, and you learn from your mistakes.”
The ad’s ending is reminiscent of an ad by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2015 where he wore a fuzzy sweater to soften his own combative image.
Lightfoot’s campaign wouldn’t say how big the ad buy is but it’s expected to be substantial.
There are at least 10 candidates in the field for the Feb. 28 election, including Lightfoot, U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García, Ald. Sophia King, activist Ja’Mal Green, Ald. Roderick Sawyer, former Chicago Public Schools chief Paul Vallas, state Rep. Kambium “Kam” Buckner, Ald. Raymond Lopez, business owner Willie Wilson and Cook County commissioner Brandon Johnson. If no one gets at least 50% of the vote, a runoff will take place April 4.
