The Night Chicago Died?

Chicago has elected it’s 57th mayor, the progressive democrat Brandon Johnson.

Initally, there were 9 candidates running in the February 28, 2023 Chicago general election. They were all trying to earn over 50 percent of the vote total in order to be elected. None of them were able to achieve that goal. The top two vote earners were Brandon Johnson (21.63%) and the “old school” democrat Paul Vallas (32.9%). These two candidates would face each other again on April 4, 2023 in a municipal runoff election.

Johnson was heavily backed by several organized labor unions, primarily the Chicago Teachers Union. CTU is one of the most progressive and leftist unions in the nation. CTU is arguably the most powerful labor union in the United States. Johnson, a Cook County commissioner, was a former community organizer and he was also a grade school teacher for 4 years. He ran on what could be described as an anti-business, reallocate police resources and wealth redistribution platform.

In contrast, Vallas was backed by many traditional Chicago democrats and the Chicago police unions. Vallas was the “law and order” candidate. Vallas had experience managing large municipal departments and experience improving education and prison systems nationally and internationally.

Unfortunately, Vallas ran a feckless and weak campaign, constantly being placed on the defensive by media and by Johnson’s aggressive negative advertising. Although the Chicago municipal elections are nonpartisan, Vallas spent his time distancing himself from former President Donald Trump and trying to prove his lifelong democrat party credibility.

Johnson made the accusation that Vallas was more of a republican than a democrat. Meanwhile, Johnson and the CTU focused on selective voter registration drives using early voting tactics and a sketchy vote by mail opportunity that had been implemented during Covid.

Overall, voter turnout was pathetic. Just about 36 percent of the 1,587,153 registered Chicago voters came out to vote on April 4. Final numbers are still unknown because there are still uncounted mail in ballots, but Vallas conceded on the election night clearing the way for Brandon Johnson to be sworn in as mayor on May 15, 2023.

At the time of this publication, the vote total was as follows:

Johnson 293,442 (51.5%)

Vallas 276,460 (48.5%)

If Brandon Johnson sticks to his campaign promises, Chicago is in for a very challenging 4 years.