Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas advanced from a nine candidate field in the Feb. 28, 2023, general election for mayor of Chicago, Illinois, to an April 24 runoff.
Vallas received 33.7% of the vote in the general election. He was the 2014 Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor. He worked as chief administrative officer at Chicago State University and was the CEO of Chicago Public Schools. On the night of the general election, Vallas gave a speech focused on public safety. “Public safety is the fundamental right of every American. It is a civil right. And it is the principle responsibility of government, and we will have a safe Chicago,” he said. The Chicago Fraternal Order of Police endorsed Vallas.
Johnson received 20.3% of the vote in the general election. He was elected to the Cook County Board of Commissioners as a Democrat in 2018. He was a teacher with Chicago Public Schools and an organizer with the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). In a speech on the night of the general election, Johnson focused on education policy. Johnson thanked CTU for their support and said, “We get to turn the page of the politics of old . . . Every single child in the city gets to have their needs met.” The CTU endorsed Johnson.
