Chicago's mayor election made history. But in a city weary of guns, poverty and corruption, does it matter?

CHICAGO – The nation’s third-largest city made history with the election of Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot, making the city of 2.7 million the nation’s largest ever to tap a black woman and openly gay mayor.

But in the end, Lightfoot’s race, gender and sexual orientation mattered little to most voters in this city that’s exhausted by political corruption, rampant gun violence and a widening chasm between the rich and poor.

In the Garfield Park neighborhood – an area devastated by violence and deep poverty – 65-year-old truck driver Charles Hill said he voted for Lightfoot, a former federal prosecutor and corporate lawyer, out of frustration with the establishment politicians who have dominated Chicago.

“I hope things get better, but I’m not going to hold my breath,” said Hill, after casting his ballot at a polling site at a neighborhood school where only 14% of students met or exceeded state benchmarks for math.

Hill appeared hardly alone in expressing his disgust with old-style Chicago politics. Lightfoot managed to trounce her opponent, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

Preckwinkle, who has been on the Chicago political scene for nearly three decades and was widely viewed as the front-runner when she entered the race in September, didn’t manage to win even one of the city’s 50 wards. Lightfoot won nearly 75% of the vote –what she declared a mandate to change politics as usual in the city.

“I think what it signals is that people across the city want a break from the broken political past,” Lightfoot told reporters Wednesday morning. “I’m excited about the prospects. We ran hard, unequivocally on ending corruption in city government, on making sure that we had a government that was far more responsive and transparent and accountable to the people.”

More: Chicago elects Lori Lightfoot as first gay and first black female mayor in city’s history

Lightfoot was consistent with that message when she entered the race nearly 11 months ago – a moment when she appeared to be a long-shot candidate. When the current mayor, Rahm Emanuel, made the bombshell announcement in September that he would not seek a third term, he said that he didn’t think that Chicago’s next mayor had yet entered the race.

With Emanuel’s departure, better-known – and better-funded – politicians entered the race, such as Preckwinkle, former U.S. Commerce Secretary Bill Daley, Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza and former Chicago school board President Gery Chico.

But all four of those top contenders saw their fortunes take a tumble when federal prosecutors in January charged Alderman Ed Burke, a 50-year veteran of the Chicago city council, with attempted extortion of officials from a company that operates Burger King franchises in Illinois.

The four, all longtime creatures of the Chicago political scene, had, to varying degrees, deep ties to Burke and became dirtied by the scandal.

Preckwinkle received $116,000 in campaign contributions raised at a fundraiser at Burke’s home. She received $10,000 from one of the franchise operators, money she said she returned.

Mendoza was married at Burke’s home in a ceremony officiated by the alderman’s wife, Illinois supreme court justice Anne Burke. Chico had received Burke's endorsement.

Bill Daley’s family – he’s the son of late mayor Richard J. Daley and younger brother of former Mayor Richard M. Daley and Cook County Commissioner John Daley – received about $30,000 in political donations from Burke over the years.

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Ironically, Burke, who ran for re-election as he awaits trial, managed in February to win another four-year term to represent his Southwest Side ward. He won a majority of the vote in the first round of voting and avoided a runoff.

But with the shadow of the scandal, Lightfoot’s message of rooting out corruption resonated with voters in the mayor’s race. Despite ranking sixth in fundraising among 14 candidates in February’s first round of voting, she finished first in voting among the crowded field and advanced to Tuesday’s runoff against Preckwinkle.

“I wanted somebody that was going to do more than collect their money,” said voter Anita Williams, a resident on the city’s West Side, who cast her vote for Lightfoot.

Lightfoot will be sworn in next month and will immediately face some thorny issues.

The current contract for the Chicago Public Teachers Union, which represents about 25,000 teachers, expires at the end June. She’ll also need to quickly come up with a budget for 2020 that requires the city dole out an extra $276 million for the city’s pensions funds. Currently, the city has $28 billion in unmet pension obligations.

In her victory speech, Lightfoot said that she and other leaders must quickly stanch an exodus of residents.

“A shrinking city, which is where we are right now, just will not do,” Lightfoot said. “To thrive, Chicago must grow. It simply must.”

Alex Chavez, 25, a software engineer who lives on the Northwest Side, said he worries about whether Chicago will remain an affordable place where he and his extended family can stay.

Chavez is not alone in his anxiety about Chicago’s future. About 36% of Chicagoans ages 18 to 29 said they planned to leave Chicago, according to a study published last month by the group GenForward. The respondents expressed concerns about the city’s politics, access to good schools and discrimination by police in neighborhoods that are black and Latino.

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While some impoverished neighborhoods on the South and West Sides have lost tens of thousands of black residents over the last decade, other areas of the city – including once working-class neighborhoods like the one where Chavez lives – are becoming less affordable.

“I have a pretty good job and it’s still tough,” Chavez said. “How are people who don’t have good jobs managing?”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chicago's mayor election made history. But in a city weary of guns, poverty and corruption, does it matter?