2 black women vying in runoff to become Chicago's next mayor

2 black women vying in runoff to become Chicago's next mayor
In this March 24, 2019 photo, Chicago mayoral candidate Lori Lightfoot, right, participates in a candidate forum in Chicago. Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle, left, are competing to make history by becoming the city's first black, female mayor. On issues their positions are similar. But their resumes are not, and that may make all the difference when voters pick a new mayor on Tuesday, April 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford)

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago will have its first black woman as mayor after voters choose between candidates who waged contentious campaigns that highlighted their contrasting political paths.

Former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle were the top vote-getters in a 14-person general election in February to succeed Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who did not seek re-election. They have similar positions on many issues but divergent resumes.

The 56-year-old Lightfoot has never held elected office, which she says fits the times in a city that has seen a scandal-ridden Democratic Party in charge for decades.

The 72-year-old Preckwinkle is a former schoolteacher who served on the Chicago City Council for 19 years before becoming Cook County Board president.