Progressive Brandon Johnson elected Chicago’s next mayor

Progressive Democrat and Cook County commissioner Brandon Johnson was elected Chicago mayor on Tuesday night after defeating moderate Paul Vallas in a runoff election.

The Associated Press called the tight race for Johnson as the leftist held a narrow lead of just under 16,000 votes with all precincts reporting in the hotly contested race that focused on surging crime in the Windy City.

“It’s clear based on the results tonight our city is divided,” Vallas told supporters around 9:30 p.m. in a concession speech.

He said he called Johnson and told him he “absolutely expects” him to be the next mayor of Chicago.

Johnson, a former teacher and union organizer, and Vallas faced off in the runoff after Lori Lightfoot became Chicago’s first incumbent mayor in 40 years to lose re-election.

The election went to a runoff after none of the nine candidates received at least 50 percent of the vote, with Vallas and Johnson leading the pack.

Brandon Johnson will be the next Mayor of Chicago.Getty Images

Vallas, former Chicago Public Schools CEO, campaigned as a center-leaning Democrat, with promises to be tougher on crime — winning him an endorsement from the Chicago police union.

He was endorsed by Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin as well as former Education Secretary Arne Duncan — Vallas’ predecessor at CPS. Former Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush, who co-founded Illinois’ chapter of the Black Panther Party in the 1960s. 

Johnson, meanwhile, was backed by the Chicago teacher’s union and several progressive members of congress, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and “Squad” member Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.).

Chicago mayoral candidate Paul Vallas addresses his supporters after conceding the runoff election to his opponent, Brandon Johnson on April 4, 2023.AP

The dividing issue in the race has been their differing stances on crime.

During his campaign, Vallas called out Lightfoot for permitting an “utter breakdown of law and order” on her watch and pledged to fully fund city police departments, if elected.

Johnson supported the “defund the police” movement in 2020 and has urged further spending on workforce development, housing, transportation and schools.

Lightfoot had embraced calls to defund law enforcement in the wake of George Floyd’s killing,  cutting around $58 million from Chicago’s police budget in 2021.

Chicago has been plagued by its highest homicide rates in a quarter-century, with 695 recorded murders in 2022 and 804 recorded murders in 2021.