To make blatant racial appeals or just blatant appeals only targeted to the LGBTQ+ community, I didn't think that that was a winning formula, and it's also inconsistent with who I am.

The whole circus surrounding Ed Burke, I knew immediately from my days as a federal prosecutor, was very, very serious.

You know, when you get the White House operator and they say, 'Just a moment for the president of the United States,' that's a pretty heady moment.

We have a lot of taxpayers in this city who deserve to get every nickel of their tax dollars that they're entitled to from Washington, and I intend to make that happen.

So, yes, I became the vessel into which people poured their hopes that we can have a different kind of city. I recognize that, but in politics, sometimes it's good to be lucky.

I'm not a person who puts things out in writing and policy prescriptions and is not intending to follow through.

Both my brothers played football. My mother had season tickets as a school board member. I was in the band, my sister was in the band. The thing was, the unifying civic activity was obsession over high school football.

My view is I should have been Miss Massillonian, and I wasn't. I think the reason I wasn't was because I was black. Frankly, I was told later I should have been. But they were afraid if they elected a black girl as Miss Massillonian, it would have been a scandal.

Look, there's no question that we have a challenge with gun violence. But there's a lot more nuanced parts of that narrative, and that's the part that I think that we have to make sure that we emphasize along with all the great things that are going on in Chicago, particularly in our neighborhoods.

I don't think I'll be a good mayor if I don't live my authentic life, and that's got to be involved with having fun with my spouse and my daughter.

One of the challenges I think we have is people feel like the act of governance is a zero sum game. 'Whatever I get, you're not getting.' Changing that dynamic is going to be critically important for me as a leader, so that people don't feel they're pitted against each other.

I've wanted to be a parent for a really long time, and I'm going to make sure I'm doing everything I can to be present in her life, to be her mother. I don't want to be absent from her life.

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

My mother is a fascinating person.

We need to educate our young people about the dangers of gun violence and that there are real consequences for solving disputes with guns.

When young people grow up with fear as the norm, they don't have the luxury to dream.

I'm pretty funny on my own.

We have to have a school board that's actually gonna be able to function and that has true parent representatives on it.

I think about my parents, and I think a lot about the sacrifices they have made.

What I hear from folks all the time is 'us against them.' It is a core part of what they feel is happening with our government. Investing here, but not there. Listening to some, but not nearly enough. Going into certain neighborhoods, but not others. That divide is something we have to categorically reject.

When you're walking down a street and you are a brown-skinned person or you're a person that lives in an immigrant community, there's no differentiating on - solely on the basis of what you look like. They don't walk down the street saying, hi, I'm an immigrant; I'm here legally or not.

You know, I'm a former federal prosecutor. Before ICE was ICE, I did a lot of cases with Customs Enforcement.

When we ignore the will of the people, people lose.

I know what it's like to be denied opportunity based on the nature of your skin.

There's things that you can learn by being in the room with people that's different than talking to them over the phone or reading a policy paper.

Our kids' lives depend upon keeping them safe. That has to be a fundamental duty and responsibility for me as mayor. That means we have to continue hard but necessary work of bridging the divide between police and communities they serve.

I am an independent reform candidate. I do not represent the past.

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.

I'm not affiliated with Ed Burke, Joe Berrios or anyone else who represents the old, corrupt Chicago way. I am offering voters a complete break from that past and pushing us forward in a way that brings people together and makes government more inclusive.

We can and will make Chicago a place where your ZIP code doesn't determine your destiny.

What I favor is that we have health care access to people that is not income based. We have to have health care that is acceptable and it's going to come in a number of forms.

It's not enough to be anti-Trump.

There's significant movement as far to the left in our party as far as you can go, where people are trying to out-Bernie Bernie.

I have to explain to my daughter what it means when adults lie. I have to explain to my daughter what it means when adults are bullies. I have to explain to my daughter what it means when an adult says something that's not true just to try to score political points.

If you look at the number of aldermen who have been prosecuted and found liable of federal crimes over the years... the common thread among all of them is doing something in the exercise of aldermanic prerogative or privilege.

If you really want to make a difference you don't do it via Tweet, via Facebook, via Instagram - you get down, you understand what the facts are and then you offer a path forward.

It's true that not every day a little black girl in a low-income family from a segregated steel town makes the runoff to be the mayor of the third-largest city in America.

When I was in my 20s and kind of going through my own coming out process, I feared that I would lose my family. I feared that I would grow old alone. And that was a real part of my struggle.

Being the mayor of the third largest city in the country, that's humbling, but it also gives me incredible hope.

People feel like city government is corrupt. They feel like it doesn't work unless you have clout.

When you decide you're going to be a public servant, you should not be able to take on interests that conflict with the city.

Community isn't something I ever take for granted.

I grew up in a small town in a low-income family and was the only black kid in my elementary school. I felt like an outsider, and since I didn't know of LGBT people - much less LGBT black women - living happy, healthy, and successful lives, I didn't believe I could ever marry or have a child.

Chicago is an incredibly great city, but it was clear to me that greatness wasn't being spread to all our neighborhoods.

I think of being the mayor of a big city with so many incredible things happening - but also so many challenges and opportunities - as really being kind of the chief advocate for the people.

I learned early on about the real meaning of equity and inclusion, and that when those guiding principles are not met, they can have devastating effects on individuals, families, and communities.

I've been lucky and I recognize that, but I haven't lost sight of that girl I was.

Obviously, I believe that Rahm Emanuel's leadership has failed. Obviously, I believe we need change.

What I'm saying is that government doesn't work for people. There is a perception of it and a reality of it.