Johnson elected Chicago mayor in victory for progressives | AP News
By: SARA BURNETT (AP NEWS)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
CHICAGO (AP) — Brandon Johnson, a union organizer and former teacher, was elected Chicago mayor on Tuesday, a major victory for the party's progressive wing as the nation's third-largest city grapples with high crime and financial challenges.
Johnson, a Cook County commissioner endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union, won a close race over former Chicago schools CEO Paul Vallas, who was backed by the police union. Johnson, 47, will succeed Lori Lightfoot, the first Black woman and first openly gay person to be the city's mayor.
Lightfoot became the first Chicago mayor in 40 years to lose her reelection bid when she finished third in a crowded February contest. The top two vote-getters, Vallas and Johnson, advanced to Tuesday's runoff after no candidate was able to secure over 50% to win outright.
Johnson's victory topped a remarkable trajectory for a candidate who was little known when he entered the race. He climbed to the top of the field with organizing and financial help from the politically influential Chicago Teachers Union and high-profile endorsements from progressive Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Sanders appeared at a rally for Johnson in the final days of the race.
It was a momentous win for progressive organizations such as the teachers union, with Johnson winning the highest office of any active teachers union member in recent history, leaders say. It comes as groups such as Our Revolution, a powerful progressive advocacy organization, push to win more offices in local and state office, including in upcoming mayoral elections in Philadelphia and elsewhere.
Speaking to supporters Tuesday night, Vallas said that he had called Johnson and that he expected him to be the next mayor. Some in the crowd seemed to jeer the news, but Vallas urged them to put aside differences and support the next mayor in "the daunting work ahead."
"This campaign that I ran to bring the city together would not be a campaign that fulfills my ambitions if this election is going to divide us," Vallas said.
He added that he had offered Johnson his full support in the transition.
The contest surfaced longstanding tensions among Democrats, with Johnson and his supporters blasting Vallas — who was endorsed by Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the chamber's second-ranking Democrat — as too conservative and a Republican in disguise.
Among the biggest disputes between Johnson and Vallas was how to address crime. Like many U.S. cities, Chicago saw violent crime increase during the COVID-19 pandemic, hitting a 25-year high of 797 homicides in 2021, though the number decreased last year and the city has a lower murder rate than others in the Midwest, such as St. Louis.
Vallas, 69, said he would hire hundreds more police officers, while Johnson said he didn't plan to cut the number of officers, but that the current system of policing isn't working. Johnson was forced to defend past statements expressing support for "defunding" police — something he insisted he would not do as mayor.
Instead, he said, he planned to allocate more money to areas such as mental health treatment and youth jobs.
Johnson also released a plan calling for $800 million in new taxes, which he said would be imposed on wealthy people and businesses, while freezing property taxes. Vallas, who had strong support from the business community, said the tax plan would be disastrous for Chicago's economy.
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I'm not so sure this is going to work out all that well. There could be white flight as a result of this.
Pretty sure a mayor who framed the race as white vs black will cause white flight. Pretty amazing open appeals to race loyalty work in. 2023, but that Chicago democrats never seem to change.
Florida is going to burst at the seems with all the transplants.
Why would white Dems fly?
There are tens of thousands, probably more, of conservative white people in Chicago.
About 32% of Chicago’s population is non-Hispanic white. Are you saying many or most are racist regardless of Party affiliation?
Unfortunately there are a few conservatives scattered about in Chicago for whatever reason.
Chicago regurgitates the same damn BS every election cycle and the city keeps sliding further and further into crime and debt.
Anyone with the means gets the hell out while they still can. Unfortunately that includes some leftists that spread their political bile where ever they go.
Chicagoans flew
And Dems knew
Turk 182
I really thought Vallas would win. Unfortunately he is the human version of wallpaper drying.
Johnson seems to me to be too far left for a city of almost 3 million people. I know how conservative white people in Chicago think, and a good number of them are going to start talking about moving to the suburbs or to another city or state.
Johnson is going to need to make some sort of concessions or initiatives towards the 50% who didnt vote for him. I dont know if he is the type to do that but he better be.
If ever Chicago needed a Normal democrat, it was now. To double down on the crazy after losing tens of thousands of people the last couple of years.
Normal democrat?
He means old normal centrist Democrat; not the new toxic insane leftist Democrat that has taken over the party.
Yeah, what ronin said. Vallas seems to be more of an Obama democrat (MAGA in 2023 progressive speak) while Johnson is off the charts.
framing the election as a fight between black poverty and white wealth leads to a mayor focused on reparations and keeping criminals out of jail in the name of equity rather than competently governing a city facing enormous challenges.
Ten percent of Chicago’s electorate has decided it will continue it’s descent into lawlessness and debt. Next up .... “Escape from Chicago.”
You reap what you sow.