CHICAGO — Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson spent the last televised debate before next Tuesday’s mayoral election on the defensive as they faced tough questions about their political records and associations.
Johnson and Vallas spoke about issues ranging from how to keep students safe from sexual abuse at school to filling enduring police officer vacancies in the city.
The debate, hosted by CBS Chicago and moderated by Irika Sargent and Rufus Williams, opened up with the two candidates discussing the role that the city’s most influential unions are playing in the race — including the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, whose president told the New York Times this week that 800 to 1,000 Chicago police officers would quit were Johnson to be victorious in the mayor’s race. John Catanzara, the often-incendiary police union head, added that there would be “blood in the streets.”
