Brandon Johnson, community organizer supported by the Chicago Teachers Union, becomes mayor of Chicago

A liberal community activist and union organizer with a progressive approach to crime was elected as Chicago’s new mayor on Tuesday after a heart-stopping vote count in the Windy City.

Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, 47, was named the city’s new mayor after beating fellow candidate Paul Vallas, 69, who had the backing of Chicago’s police union, by about 13,000 votes.

Vallas had called for more police on the city’s streets to tackle the crime epidemic that continues to thrive in the country’s third-largest city. Meanwhile, Johnson said he would invest in youth summer work programs for at-risk youth and spend more on mental health care.

Like many U.S. cities, Chicago saw a surge in violent crime during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a 25-year high of 797 homicides in 2021, though numbers fell last year and the city has a lower homicide rate than others in the Midwest, like as St. Louis.

During the campaign, Johnson called for raising $80 million by taxing the wealthy. He has also called for a property tax freeze. Vallas, who received strong support from the business community, said the tax plan would be disastrous for Chicago’s economy.

Brandon Johnson, Cook County Commissioner and organizer of the Chicago Teachers Union, was named the new mayor of the Windy City on Tuesday night.

Vallas supporters watch the results come in on Tuesday night

Vallas called Johnson to admit the election, reports Rob Elgas of ABC Chicago. In concession remarks, Vallas described Chicago as “deeply divided.”

The two faced off after incumbent Lori Lightfoot finished third out of nine candidates in the previous round when no one managed to cross the 50 percent mark in the March election.

The Chicago race is technically nonpartisan, but each candidate identifies as a Democrat in the heavily left-leaning city.

Polls showed that public safety is by far the number one concern among residents of the third-largest US city.

Former President Barack Obama’s chief strategist, David Axelrod, described the race between Vallas and Johnson as the battle between the “candidate of the Fraternal Order of Police” and the “candidate of the Chicago Teachers Union.” the Chicago Sun Times.

Axelrod described Vallas’ campaign as “brilliant” and “disciplined” thanks to his being “monomaniac” on violent crime.

‘[Johnson] is the candidate of the Chicago Teachers Union and if elected, will owe it to the Chicago Teachers Union. … The question is, do you want a mayor who is fully beholden to the union,’ Axelrod added in his interview.

Vallas’ rivals tried to paint him as a Republican thanks to his support from the city’s confrontational police union.

Last week, the same union hosted likely GOP presidential nominee Ron DeSantis at an event in Illinois, reports ABC Chicago.

“I completely agree with Governor Pritzker that there is simply no place in Chicago for a right-wing extremist like Ron DeSantis, and I am disappointed in the FOP leadership for inviting him to speak with officers,” Vallas said, distancing himself from the governor of Florida. .

Lightfoot had berated him for welcoming the support of the controversial police union leader, who defended the January 6 insurgents at the Capitol and equated Lightfoot’s vaccine mandate for city workers with the Holocaust.

The 2023 campaign has tested Democratic coverage of policing in the US, three years after widespread protests following the police killing of George Floyd and months after Republicans tried to oust Democrats on the issue in the 2022 midterm elections. club.