Chicago viewers will have a familiar face to guide them through the historic political drama set to unfold this month at the Democratic National Convention inside the United Center.
Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a key architect in promoting and bringing the DNC back to Chicago, has been hired by CBS 2 to provide analysis of the four-day event, where Kamala Harris is expected to formally accept her nomination as the Democratic presidential nominee.
While the process is ceremonial — Harris was officially nominated by a majority of delegates during a virtual roll call that concluded Monday — the convention spectacle will likely bring rousing speeches, protests, thousands of visitors and a massive media scrum to the Near West Side.
The DNC expects 15,000 media members to descend on Chicago during the convention, with Lightfoot now numbered among the press corps she once jousted with as mayor.
Lightfoot, known for her sometimes combative exchanges with journalists while serving as Chicago’s mayor from 2019 to 2023, will provide analysis, interviews and insight for CBS 2 viewers throughout the convention, the station said.
“I look forward to giving a behind-the-scenes look at the DNC, and helping viewers understand this moment and what it means for us, collectively,” Lightfoot said in a news release. “I’m glad to collaborate with CBS and to contextualize this historic convention for Chicagoans.”
As Chicago’s first Black female and openly gay mayor, Lightfoot presided over the city during a tumultuous term marked by pandemic disruption, civic unrest and growing concerns about violent crime. She became the city’s first incumbent mayor in 40 years to lose her reelection bid when she failed to qualify for the April 2023 runoff won by Brandon Johnson.
But in addition to launching NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race, selecting Bally’s Chicago to be the city’s first casino and other signature initiatives, Lightfoot can also take some credit for luring the DNC to return to Chicago and the United Center for the first time since the Clinton-Gore ticket was nominated for reelection in 1996.
In 2022, working with Gov. J.B. Pritzker and U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Lightfoot and the city were “all in” on the effort to get the 2024 convention, looking to boost tourism and Chicago’s image as it emerged from the pandemic.
“Mayor Lightfoot brought the DNC to the city of Chicago,” Jennifer Lyons, president and general manager of CBS 2 Chicago, said Thursday. “She knows the inner workings of the city better than anyone else … and so her expertise will be invaluable.”
Lyons said adding the former mayor to CBS 2 coverage of the DNC is “a different way of handling it,” but she expects it to make for good local TV viewing during the city’s moment in the national spotlight.
Since leaving office, Lightfoot has joined Charles River Associates, which works with law and accounting firms, corporations and governments, as a consultant to the firm’s forensic services practices. A former prosecutor, Lightfoot was engaged in April by trustees in south suburban Dolton to investigate Mayor Tiffany Henyard amid accusations she improperly spent village funds.
The convention runs Aug. 19-22 at the United Center and is projected to bring 50,000 visitors, 15,000 members of the media and 5,000 delegates to the city, according to the DNC. It is also expected to draw a lot of TV viewers nationwide.
The final night of last month’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee averaged 25.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen audience data.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com