US progressives galvanised by victory in Chicago mayoral race

The election of Brandon Johnson as the next mayor of Chicago, Illinois — the third-largest city in the United States — has electrified progressives, according to pundits who viewed the race as a referendum on the future of the Democratic Party.

“People saw the results coming in and could hardly believe it,” Robert Peters, an Illinois state senator and Democrat representing Chicago’s 13th district, told Al Jazeera. “It’s a testament to how far we’ve come in building a multiracial workers’ coalition.”

Once seen as a long-running candidate, the progressive Johnson advanced to a runoff against Paul Vallas, a conservative Democrat who pushed an aggressive message on crime and praised the endorsement of law enforcement groups.

But Johnson, a former teacher and union organizer, eventually won 51.42 percent of the vote against 48.58 percent for Vallas, who conceded on Wednesday.

The election exposed schisms in the Democratic Party, with an emerging progressive movement fighting to gain ground against the party’s established wing.

Experts say Vallas’ platform reflected concerns that Democrats were seen as “soft on crime,” a common criticism from Republicans pointing to an increase in violent crime during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vallas counted the city’s Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) among his supporters. During his campaign, he said Chicago had experienced a “complete law and order breakdown” in recent years and pledged to expand the city’s police force.

Johnson, meanwhile, campaigned on a more progressive platform. He advocated for criminal justice reform, including greater police accountability and increased investment in community and mental health services.

He also praised his support from union groups such as the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, a prominent progressive voice.

But Johnson’s campaign has been dogged by allegations that he would “fire the cops,” a rallying cry that emerged after the 2020 murder of George Floyd, a black man who died after an officer knelt on his neck in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Johnson has denied any plans to defund the Chicago Police Department, saying instead he hopes to take a more “holistic” approach to public safety.

long-term candidate

Few initially expected Johnson, who is a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, to be in the final round of the election at all.

The first round of voting took place on 28 February. Among the packed field was incumbent Lori Lightfoot, the first black woman to serve as mayor of Chicago.

But Lightfoot’s popularity suffered from the pandemic. She clashed with constituencies on both the left and right, and also endured disputes with the police and the teachers’ union.

In the end, she came in third, becoming the first mayor to lose her re-election since 1983.

None of the candidates received more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round. But Vallas and Johnson received the most votes, allowing them to advance to Tuesday’s runoff.

Many commentators and politicians saw Lightfoot’s defeat – and the fact that Vallas was the top vote-getter in the first round of voting – as a sign that a “crackdown on crime” would win the election.

“Lori Lightfoot. Crime does not pay,” wrote far-right Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene on Twitter at the time.

Range of issues

While crime played a major role in the election, Chicago voters had other things on their minds as they returned to the polls on Tuesday.

In response to an emailed question from Al Jazeera, the group 48th Ward Neighbors for Justice said they were attracted to Johnson because of his progressive stance on issues such as housing, mental health and funding for public schools.

“What set Johnson apart from his competitors was his vision to build a better Chicago for the people, not a return to the old ways of prioritizing the political establishment and wealthy insiders,” member Jamie Cernek told Al Jazeera.

Ameshia Cross, a Democratic strategist in Chicago, also supported Johnson over Vallas, in part because of the latter’s history of promoting charter schools.

“Chicago is a union city,” she told Al Jazeera during a phone call on Wednesday. “His legacy of school privatization wouldn’t fly here.”

She added that Vallas’ harsh rhetoric on crime made some black voters in the city uneasy, who heard echoes of right-wing themes.

During the campaign, FOP President John Catanzara predicted that up to 1,000 police officers would quit their jobs if Johnson won and ominously warned that his election would mean “blood in the streets”.

“A lot of communities are concerned about crime, but there’s a long history of police abuse in Chicago, so some of that rhetoric backfired,” Cross said. “Vallas listened too much to Fox News.”

Aaron Gottlieb, an assistant professor who researches criminal justice at the University of Chicago, told Al Jazeera that voters don’t always believe the idea that embracing reform means sacrificing public safety.

“Chicago spends a lot on its police force, and with that approach we’ve seen crime rise and fall,” Gottlieb said.

“When people are made aware of alternative approaches, they seem to have some openness. They probably don’t want to do away with policing altogether, but there seems to be a need for things like more emphasis on social services and less reliance on incarceration.”

Peters, the state senator, has been at the forefront of efforts to reverse the use of bail bonds in Illinois. He noted that Tuesday’s results justified Johnson’s embrace of progressive positions on issues such as education and criminal justice.

“In places like New York, the Democrats have joined the Republicans in pushing this narrative that crime is out of control and that we need a ‘crack down on crime,'” he said.

“It is a failed approach that does not keep people safe. The Democratic Party should be more like Chicago and less like New York.”