Historic moment for city embattled by racial tensions as two black women force mayoral runoff

A former federal prosecutor and a county board leader will face each other in a runoff to become Chicago's first black female mayor after leading a large field Tuesday that included a member of the Daley family that has dominated the city's politics for much of the last six decades.

Political outsider Lori Lightfoot, who was a federal prosecutor in northern Illinois, and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle were the top two vote-getters among 14 candidates, but neither received more than the 50 percent needed to avoid an April 2 runoff. The winner will succeed Mayor Rahm Emanuel to lead the nation's third-largest city. Emanuel did not seek re-election.

Among those they defeated was William Daley, who has never held major elected office but featured the most famous surname in the race. His father, Richard J. Daley, and brother, Richard M. Daley, held the city's top job for nearly 43 years of a 55-year span before Emanuel took the oath in 2011. Daley is a former U.S. Commerce secretary who, like Emanuel, served as White House chief of staff to President Barack Obama.

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