Brandon Johnson | |
---|---|
Mayor-elect of Chicago | |
Assuming office May 15, 2023 | |
Succeeding | Lori Lightfoot |
Member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners from the 1st district | |
Assumed office December 3, 2018 | |
Preceded by | Richard Boykin |
Personal details | |
Born | Elgin, Illinois, U.S. | March 27, 1976
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Stacie |
Children | 3 |
Education | Aurora University (BA, MA) |
Signature | |
Brandon Johnson (born March 27, 1976)[1] is an American educator and politician who is the mayor-elect of Chicago, having won the 2023 election.[2][3][4] A member of the Democratic Party, Johnson has served on the Cook County Board of Commissioners since 2018, representing the 1st district.
Johnson was first elected to the Cook County Board of Commissioners in 2018 after defeating incumbent Commissioner Richard Boykin in the Democratic primary election and winning the general election unopposed. Johnson won reelection to the County Board in 2022.
Johnson was elected mayor of Chicago in 2023. In the first round of the election, he and Paul Vallas advanced to a runoff, unseating incumbent mayor Lori Lightfoot. Johnson defeated Vallas in the runoff election and was elected to serve as the 57th mayor of Chicago.[5][6] He will be the city's fourth African American mayor.[a]
Johnson is considered to be a political progressive.[7]
Johnson was born in Elgin, Illinois.[1] He grew up with nine siblings in a three-bedroom house with one and a half bathrooms in Elgin.[citation needed] His parents were pastors and foster parents.[citation needed] Johnson's father, Andrew Johnson, also worked at the Elgin Mental Health Center.[citation needed] Johnson was a volunteer at his father's church, leading the youth group and driving a church van.[citation needed] He married Stacie, whom he met at a religious event, at the age of 22.[citation needed]
Johnson earned a bachelor's degree in human services, Youth Development Programming, and Management and a master's degree in teaching from Aurora University.[citation needed]
Johnson worked as a social studies teacher at Jenner Academy Elementary and George Westinghouse College Prep, both part of the Chicago Public Schools system.[8] He became an organizer with the Chicago Teachers Union in 2011, and helped organize the 2012 Chicago teachers strike.[9] He also helped lead field campaigns during the 2015 Chicago mayoral and aldermanic elections.[8][9]
Johnson ran against incumbent Richard Boykin in the 2018 election for the Cook County Board of Commissioner's 1st district. He was endorsed by a number of labor organizations and progressive advocacy groups, including the Chicago Teachers Union, Grassroots Illinois Action, Our Revolution, and SEIU Locals 1 and 73.[10] He was also endorsed by Cook County Board of Commissioners President Toni Preckwinkle.[11] He won the Democratic Party primary election on March 20, 2018, defeating Boykin by 0.8 percentage points (437 votes), and ran unopposed in the general election on November 6, 2018.[12] Johnson was sworn in as a Cook County commissioner on December 3, 2018.[13]
Johnson was the chief sponsor of the Just Housing Ordinance, which amended the county's housing ordinance by prohibiting potential landlords or property owners from asking about or considering prospective tenants' or homebuyers' criminal history.[9] The ordinance was passed in April 2019.[14][15] Johnson has generally been allied with County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.[16]
In October 2019, Johnson spoke at a solidarity rally supporting striking teachers and support staff during the 2019 Chicago Public Schools Strike, and wrote supportive letters to the editor in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times.[17][18][19] Johnson works as a paid organizer for CTU, focusing on legislative affairs.[9] Politico's Illinois Playbook reported after the strike that Johnson was rumored as a potential mayoral candidate in the 2023 election; Johnson responded by calling the rumors "laughable" and criticizing the publication for making a connection between the strike and his electoral career.[9] In November 2019, Johnson wrote an essay in a CTU publication drawing a distinction between the union's organizing model and "top-down school governance."[20][21]
Johnson endorsed Toni Preckwinkle ahead of the first round of the 2019 Chicago mayoral election.[22] He also endorsed Melissa Conyears-Ervin in the 2019 Chicago city treasurer election.[9] In August 2019, Johnson endorsed the candidacy of Elizabeth Warren in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. Johnson claimed that he came to his decision on who to endorse after having conversations with Warren and other contenders in the election, including Bernie Sanders. He praised Warren as, “the only candidate who took special interest in black progressive voices”[23] and as, "a woman who has never let fear win."[24]
In the summer of 2020, amid the George Floyd protests, Johnson authored the "Justice for Black Lives" resolution that was adopted in July 2020. It was a symbolic resolution supporting the idea of reallocating money from police and prisons to social services."[25][26] The resolution supported redirecting funding "from policing and incarceration to public services not administered by law enforcement that promote community health and safety equitably."[25] In an interview that year, Johnson praised the political catchphrase "defund the police" as a "real political goal". He would later walk back his embrace of the phrase "defund the police", especially making an effort to disassociate himself from it during his 2023 mayoral campaign.[25][27]
Johnson was reelected in 2022.[28]
During Johnson's tenure on the Board of Commissioners, Board President Preckwinkle exerted strong influence on the policy pursued by the body. In a 2023 article analyzing Johnson's tenure, John Byrne and Alice Yin of the Chicago Tribune opined that analyzing Johnson's record on Board of Commissioners "is complicated by the realities of serving since late 2018 as one of the junior members on a 17-person body where President Toni Preckwinkle...runs a tight ship and much of the real decision-making is top-down," further writing that, "the difficulty for Johnson and others who want credit for tangible legislative accomplishment, particularly on the Cook County Board [is that] the chamber operates with Preckwinkle enjoying a rock-solid majority and her own clear progressive agenda that has been bolstered in recent years by the federal COVID-19 money flowing to the county."[29]
Johnson was elected the mayor of Chicago in the city's 2023 mayoral election. He is the third black person to be elected mayor of Chicago. Johnson will be the fourth black person to serve as the city's mayor, as Eugene Sawyer had been appointed to serve following Washington's death in office but was never elected.[30] He will be the first mayor to hail from the city's West Side since the tenure of Anton Cermak, who died in office in 1933.[31] Johnson in expected to be sworn-in as Chicago's 57th[32] mayor on May 15, 2023.[33]
As early as November 2019, there had been speculation that Johnson might run for mayor of Chicago in 2023.[9] On September 13, 2022, Johnson launched an exploratory committee to consider running for mayor of Chicago in the 2023 election.[34] In the weeks that followed, he received endorsements from United Working Families,[35] the Chicago Teachers Union,[36] and progressive independent political organizations in the 30th, 33rd, 35th, and 39th wards.[37] On October 23, the American Federation of Teachers pledged to donate $1 million to Johnson's campaign should he enter the race.[37] On October 27, Johnson formally announced his candidacy.[35][38][39]
Johnson's campaign was supported by what Heather Cherone of WTTW News described as a "coalition of progressive groups".[40] During the course of his campaign in the first round of the election, Johnson received further endorsements from several local chapters of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), including the Chicago Teachers Union (AFT Local 1).[41][42][43] He received further union endorsements from Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Illinois,[44] and SEIU Local 73.[45] Johnson also received endorsements from the Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization (IVI-IPO) and two of its ward chapters,[46] the United Working Families and 33rd ward chapter,[47][48] the Working Families Party,[49] and Jewish Council on Urban Affairs Votes.[50]
Johnson was the beneficiary of Chuy García's decision to wait until after the 2022 United States House of Representatives election to announce his mayoral candidacy, as a number of groups that had supported García 2015 mayoral campaign, such as the Chicago Teachers Union and the United Working Families, grew impatient of waiting for a decision by García on whether he would run and instead pledged their support to Johnson.[51][52] Johnson also received endorsements from Illinois U.S. Congressmen Jonathan Jackson[53] and Delia Ramirez.[54] Seven incumbent Chicago aldermen (City Council members),[54][55] several members of the Illinois State Legislature,[54] and several of Johnson's colleagues on the Cook Board of Commissioners also endorsed Johnson.[54][56]
Johnson was described as a "progressive" and a favored "candidate of the left."[57][58][59] His campaign emphasized funding and resources for public schools,[60] a public safety platform that includes efficiency audits and non-police responses to mental health emergencies,[61] support for a real estate transfer tax to fund homelessness response and prevention,[60] and a budget that proposes raising $1 billion in new revenues, including through new or increased taxes on airlines, financial transactions, high-value real estate transfers, and hotels.[62][63][64] Amid polling showing crime and police relations as the leading issue, Johnson was the only primary candidate who did not express support for hiring more police officers, suggesting instead an increase in the detective force from existing ranks, citywide youth hiring, reopening mental health centers, and investment in violence prevention as means to address 'root causes of crime',[65] in line with voter preferences for increased job training and economic opportunity over force expansion.[66]
Johnson exchanged criticisms with several of his opponents. Johnson delivered focused criticisms of Mayor Lightfoot, who criticized Johnson in return.[67] Another opponent that Johnson exchanged barbs with was Chuy García.[68] Johnson characterized García of having "abandon[ed] the progressive movement” and of having presented no distinction from Mayor Lightfoot in his proposals for combatting violent crime in Chicago.[51] Johnson further characterized García as having been absent from work on a number of issues that impacted Latino neighborhoods in the city.[67] In turn, García characterized Johnson's tax proposals as being incomplete and outside of a mayor's ability to enact and questioned whether Johnson, as a former organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union, would be able to objectively negotiate with them on behalf of the city.[51]
Johnson, at a mayoral debate, attacked fellow candidate Paul Vallas, the former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, by claiming that Vallas' tenure as CEO had, "further stratified our school district, leaving our schools without the necessary support that they need."[69] In the closing weeks of the campaign, as Johnson was recognized as a more prominent contender in the race due to a continued rise in polls, he began to face focused criticism from Mayor Lightfoot as well as fellow progressive challengers Kam Buckner and Ja'Mal Green.[70] Until February, Lightfoot had made public remarks that were dismissive of Johnson's chances in the election.[70] On February 8, 2023, a political action committee supporting Mayor Lightfoot began to run an attack ad against Johnson.[40] In the final televised debate prior to the close of the initial election, held on February 13, 2023, Johnson faced strong targeted criticism from several of his opponents, receiving particularly intense criticism from Lightfoot and Green.[71]
By mid-February, polls indicated that Johnson was one of four candidates with clear probability of being among the first two finishers and advancing to a likely runoff election. The other three candidates who were shown by polls to be the most likely to advance were Paul Vallas, Mayor Lightfoot, and Chuy García.[70]
In the first round of the election on February 28, Johnson placed second with about 22% of the vote and advanced to the runoff election on April 4, where he faced Paul Vallas, who placed first in the initial round of the election with over 33% of the vote.[72][b][73][74][75]
After they were eliminated in the election's first round as mayoral candidates, U.S Congressman Chuy García and Illinois State Senator Kam Buckner endorsed Johnson in the runoff.[76] Johnson received several endorsements from prominent organizations and figures that had backed candidates in the first round of the election that had failed to make the runoff. Among those that had backed Lightfoot in the first round of the election who gave their endorsements to Johnson for the runoff are Equality Illinois,[77] and U.S. Congressman from Illinois Danny Davis.[78] Johnson also received the endorsement of first-round García backers, including U.S. Congresswoman from Illinois Jan Schakowsky,[79] Illinois State Representative Edgar Gonzalez Jr.,[80] Illinois State Senator Ram Villivalam,[81][82] and Alderman Andre Vasquez.[81][83]
Other individuals who did not endorse in the first round also endorsed Johnson in the runoff. These included activist and former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson[84] and Cook County Board of Commissioners President Toni Preckwinkle (who was the runner-up of the previous mayoral election in 2019),[85] Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul,[86] and former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun, herself a one-time presidential candidate and a one-time candidate for mayor of Chicago in 2011.[87] National politicians also endorsed Johnson, including U.S. Senators and former presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren (of Massachusetts),[24] Bernie Sanders (of Vermont),[88] and U.S. Congressman from South Carolina Jim Clyburn.[89]
In the runoff, Johnson also gained the endorsements of the local trade union chapters American Federation of Government Employees Local 704,[90] and Service Employees International Union Local 1.[91] Johnson also received the endorsements of Our Revolution,[92] the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club,[77] the Chicago National Organization for Women PAC,[93] Personal PAC,[94] as well as the National Nurses United, National Nurses Organizing Committee,[95] and Illinois Nurses Association.[96]
Johnson criticized Vallas for ties to Republican Party organizations and figures, as well as his ties to conservative causes, remarking in the first runoff debate, "Chicago cannot afford Republicans like Paul Vallas". This included bringing up 2009 remarks in which Vallas had expressed opposition to abortion rights and declared himself "more of a Republican than a Democrat." In response to this line of criticism, Vallas proclaimed himself a "lifelong Democrat", citing his candidacy in the primary of the 2002 Illinois gubernatorial election and his unsuccessful campaign as the Democratic Party's nominee for lieutenant governor in the 2014 Illinois gubernatorial election.[97][98] Johnson also attacked Vallas as having hurt Chicago Public Schools' finances during his tenure as CEO of Chicago Public Schools.[99]
Vallas accused Johnson of lacking "substance", accusing him of lacking a significant political record.[97] Vallas campaigned on lowering crime while characterizing Brandon Johnson as wanting to "defund the police".[99]
Johnson and Vallas both agreed on continuing expanding the INVEST South/West Initiative launched by Mayor Lightfoot, which directs investment into historically disadvantaged South and West Side neighborhoods.[97] Vallas and Johnson also agreed that the city should not utilize public money in order to persuade the Chicago Bears football team, which is pursuing a new stadium in the suburb of Arlington Heights, to remain in the city of Chicago.[97]
Prior to advancing to the runoff, both Johnson and Vallas had come out in opposition to the notion of the city spending $2 billion or more to renovate and build a dome over the Bears' current municipally-owned home stadium, Soldier Field.[100][101] While Vallas expressed his belief that it is a foregone matter that the Bears will not reconsider a move to Arlington Heights,[100][102] in the runoff Johnson reiterated his previously-declared stance that the city should still pursue the opportunity to negotiate with the football team,[103] and pledged that as mayor he would "sit down and work with the [Chicago Bears] ownership", in order to see what arrangement the city and the team, "can figure out".[97]
On April 4, Johnson defeated Vallas to win the runoff election. The Associated Press projected his victory within a few hours of poll closing, on the night of April 4.[3] His victory was described as an upset victory by several media outlets.[104][105] He will become mayor at noon on May 15, 2023.[106]
Johnson performed exceptionally strong in wards with majority black populations, winning as much as 80% in some such wards on the South Side and West Side of the city. He also performed strongly in some predominantly white lakeshore areas and in some Hispanic-majority areas northwest of the city's downtown.[107]
Johnson had been significantly out-fundraised in the election by Vallas.[108] Some journalists have attributed grassroots organizing in support of his candidacy as having been the difference-maker in Johnson's victory.[109]
Before he will take office, Johnson will have a transition period leading up to his scheduled mayoral inauguration. Many of those leading Johnson transition team, including its chair, have ties to trade unions.[110]
On April 6, 2023, Mayor-elect Johnson met with Mayor Lightfoot at her Chicago City Hall office in order to discuss the mayoral transition. To the press, Johnson commented, "The mayor and her administration is committed to have a smooth transition. They are prepared to leave us with the macro aspect of transition but also very micro dynamics that play a part in governance. Her and her entire team have worked tirelessly to make sure that the transition is smooth."[111] He also commented, "I've been incredibly grateful for her love and dedication to the city of Chicago, and of course, her commitment to make sure that we bring the city together, and that the Johnson administration starts off, literally, on the right foot." He described Lightfoot and members of her outgoing administration as working, "tirelessly to make sure the transition is smooth," and having a "collegial exchange" with him and his own team.[112] The following day, Mayor-elect Johnson met in person with Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker.[113] He met in person with Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on April 14, 2023.[114]
On April 11, 2023, Chicago was announced to have won the right to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention.[115] Johnson had supported the city's bid. After they had defeated Lightfoot in the first round, both Johnson and Vallas each vowed to provide their support for the convention bid that Lightfoot had been championing as mayor.[116] It was reported that when President Joe Biden made a congratulatory phone call to Johnson after he was projected the election's victory, Johnson took the opportunity to pitch him on Chicago's bid to host the convention.[117] After the mayoral election, in the final day before the Democratic National Committee was to select a host city for the convention, Johnson and Governor Pritkzer had worked with each other to advance the case for Chicago to host.[118]
Approximately a week after his election, Johnson joined a picket line alongside striking faculty members at Chicago State University.[119]
In April 2023, after some teens engaged in shootings, setting cars on fire, smashing windows, and other crimes, Mayor-Elect Johnson issued a statement, writing "...in no way do I condone the destructive activity we saw in the Loop and lakefront this weekend. It is unacceptable and has no place in our city. However, it is not constructive to demonize youth who have otherwise been starved of opportunities in their own communities."[120]
Johnson lives in the Austin neighborhood on the west side of Chicago with his wife, Stacie, and their three children.[1][8]
In March 2023, it was revealed that Johnson owed the city of Chicago $3,357.04 in unpaid water and sewer charges and additional $1,044.58 in unpaid traffic tickets from 2014 and 2015.[121][122] However, Johnson's debts were confirmed to be paid-in-full by March 31, 2023.[123]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Brandon Johnson | 24,863 | 50.44 | |
Democratic | Richard Boykin (incumbent) | 24,426 | 49.56 | |
Total votes | 49,289 | 100.00 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Brandon Johnson | 88,590 | 100.00 | |
Total votes | 88,590 | 100.00 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Brandon Johnson (incumbent) | 30,702 | 100.00 | |
Total votes | 30,702 | 100.00 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Brandon Johnson (incumbent) | 71,077 | 92.87 | |
Libertarian | James Humay | 5,457 | 7.13 | |
Total votes | 76,534 | 100.00 |
2023 Chicago mayoral election | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Candidate | General election[127] | Runoff election | ||
Votes | % | Votes | % | |
Brandon Johnson | 122,093 | 21.63 | 318,007 | 52.13 |
Paul Vallas | 185,743 | 32.90 | 292,055 | 47.87 |
Lori Lightfoot (incumbent) | 94,890 | 16.81 | ||
Chuy García | 77,222 | 13.68 | ||
Willie Wilson | 51,567 | 9.13 | ||
Ja'Mal Green | 12,257 | 2.17 | ||
Kam Buckner | 11,092 | 1.96 | ||
Sophia King | 7,191 | 1.27 | ||
Roderick Sawyer | 2,440 | 0.43 | ||
Write-ins | 29 | 0.00 | ||
Total | 564,524 | 100.00 | 610,062 | 100.00 |
Note: Runoff results are based upon an uncertified summary report |
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