Lori Lightfoot Quotes

It is simply the truth that the political system that I am part of has degenerated to the point that it needs fundamental change.

The status quo helps liberals. We're going to change the country.

A political machine is a united minority working against a divided majority.

I loathe the professional politician. I have never been a regular. I have fought political machines and party politics at every opportunity.

a political machine of the greatest importance of the state.

When I tried to create a new political party, which I stressed that this is not my party. I believe very much that there has to be a revolution and this is a party for the young.

A bold reform agenda is our moral obligation. If we make the case effectively and win this November, then we will have the moral authority to enact the kind of fundamental reforms America has not seen since Ronald Reagan's first year.

When the business interests... pushed through the first installment of civil service reform in 1883, they expected that they would be able to control both political parties equally.

New politicians try to displace old ones by changing the electoral laws, while entrenched politicians defend outworn electoral systems when they feel that the new laws might weaken their positions and perhaps even abolish their sinecures.

The system of building up, by corruption, political machines dominated by a boss whom the corporations believe essential to them for corrupt purposes of their own, is too deeply entrenched even yet in our national life.

You ... have done more than elect a President. You have created a new party that ought to hold power for twenty-five years.

The three things a Tammany leader most dreaded were in the ascending order of repulsiveness, the penitentiary, honest industry, and biography

When the [political] clubhouse gets control of the seat of government, invariably the private interest outweighs the public interest, and corruption sets in.

There are times, perhaps once every thirty years, when there is a sea-change in politics. It then does not matter what you say or what you do. There is a shift in what the public wants and what it approves of.

I]t is evident that the Railroad machine and Ruef did not want me to be governor again, and as they were in control of the convention, what kick have I coming?[.

Concentration of power in a political machine is bad..

The way the Queens Democratic party machine has worked, they operate on a politics of exclusion.

The Tammany guys, many of them were corrupt. They were still around when I was a boy. You knew the Tammany guys' name.

My whole deal is reforming, changing, shaking up Washington. It sure needs it.

Having been governor of New Mexico, I know that legislation gets passed to benefit those who have money and influence. Then they buy more money and influence. That's one reason why, as governor, I vetoed more than 750 bills and thousands of line items. I did it to keep crony capitalism away from government.

Mr. Trump is changing American politics forever and his leadership and strength are desperately needed.

I saw Trump as a necessary force to disrupt a broken system that was no longer serving the American people.

Chicago's been under the grip of the corrupt and broken political machine for as long as everybody's memory.

The Workers Party rose to power when the Western Left began its descent.

I am not tied to the broken political machine, and I did not aspire to climb the ranks of the Cook County Democratic Party to be the party boss.