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Brandon Johnson

Brandon Johnson (born March 27, 1976) is an American educator and politician who has served as the 57th Mayor of Chicago since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, Johnson previously served on the Cook County Board of Commissioners from 2018 to 2023, 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. He is the city's fourth African-American mayor.

Johnson is considered to be a political progressive.

Early life and education

Johnson was born in Elgin, Illinois. He was one of ten children born to Andrew and Wilma Jean Johnson. Johnson grew up in Elgin with his nine siblings. His father was a pastor and his parents were occasional foster parents. Johnson's father, Andrew Johnson, also worked at the Elgin Mental Health Center. When Johnson was nineteen years old, his mother died of congestive heart failure.

Johnson married Stacie Rencher.

Johnson earned a bachelor's degree in youth development and a master's degree in teaching from Aurora University.

Early career

Johnson worked as a social studies teacher at Jenner Academy Elementary and George Westinghouse College Prep, both part of the Chicago Public Schools system. He became an organizer with the Chicago Teachers Union in 2011, and helped organize the 2012 Chicago teachers strike. He also helped lead field campaigns during the 2015 Chicago mayoral and aldermanic elections.

Cook County commissioner (2018–2023)

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. He was also endorsed by Cook County Board of Commissioners President Toni Preckwinkle. 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. Johnson was sworn in as a Cook County commissioner on December 3, 2018.

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. The ordinance was passed in April 2019.

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. Johnson worked as a paid organizer for CTU, focusing on legislative affairs. 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. 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."

Johnson endorsed Toni Preckwinkle ahead of the first round of the 2019 Chicago mayoral election. He also endorsed Melissa Conyears-Ervin in the 2019 Chicago city treasurer election. In August 2019, Johnson endorsed the candidacy of Elizabeth Warren in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries.

In the summer of 2020, amid the George Floyd protests, Johnson authored the "Justice for Black Lives" resolution that was adopted in July 2020. The resolution called for reallocating funding "from policing and incarceration" to "public services not administered by law enforcement that promote community health and safety equitably." 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.

Johnson was reelected in 2022.

During Johnson's tenure on the Board of Commissioners, Board President Toni Preckwinkle exerted strong influence on the policy pursued by the body. Johnson had generally been allied with Preckwinkle.

2023 mayoral campaign

Johnson was elected the mayor of Chicago in the city's 2023 mayoral election. He became the third black person to be elected mayor of Chicago. Johnson is the fourth black person to serve as the city's mayor, as Eugene Sawyer had been appointed to serve following Harold Washington's death in office but was never elected. He also became the first mayor to hail from the city's West Side since the tenure of Anton Cermak in the 1930s. Johnson was sworn in as Chicago's 57th mayor on May 15, 2023.

First round

As early as November 2019, there had been speculation that Johnson might run for mayor of Chicago in 2023. On September 13, 2022, Johnson launched an exploratory committee to consider running for in the 2023 mayoral election. In the weeks that followed, he received endorsements from United Working Families, the Chicago Teachers Union, and progressive independent political organizations in the 30th, 33rd, 35th, and 39th wards. On October 23, the American Federation of Teachers pledged to donate $1 million to Johnson's campaign should he enter the race. On October 27, Johnson formally announced his candidacy.

Johnson's campaign was supported by what Heather Cherone of WTTW News described as a "coalition of progressive groups". 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.

Johnson was described as a "progressive" and a favored "candidate of the left." His campaign emphasized funding and resources for public schools, a public safety platform that includes efficiency audits and non-police responses to mental health emergencies, support for a real estate transfer tax to fund homelessness response and prevention, 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. 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', in line with voter preferences for increased job training and economic opportunity over force expansion.

Johnson exchanged criticisms with several of his opponents. Johnson delivered focused criticisms of Mayor Lightfoot, who criticized Johnson in return. Another opponent that Johnson exchanged barbs with was Chuy García. 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. Johnson further characterized García as having been absent from work on a number of issues that impacted Latino neighborhoods in the city. 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.

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." 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. Until February, Lightfoot had made public remarks that were dismissive of Johnson's chances in the election. However, her regard for Johnson's electoral prospects appeared to change once Johnson's standing in the polls ascended. On February 8, 2023, a political action committee supporting Mayor Lightfoot began to run an attack ad against Johnson. 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. Reflecting his increased standing in the race, in the final televised debate prior to the close of the initial election Johnson faced strong targeted criticism from several of his opponents, receiving particularly intense criticism from Lightfoot and Green.

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.

Runoff

After they were eliminated in the election's first round as mayoral candidates, U.S. Congressman Chuy García and Illinois State Representative Kam Buckner endorsed Johnson in the runoff. Among the most prominent figures to endorse Johnson in the general election were activist and two-time presidential candidate Jesse Jackson, Cook County Board of Commissioners President Toni Preckwinkle (the runner-up of the previous mayoral election in 2019), Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun (a 2004 presidential candidate 2011 mayoral candidate), U.S. Congressman from South Carolina Jim Clyburn, as well as U.S. Senators and former presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren (of Massachusetts) and Bernie Sanders (of Vermont).

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. Johnson also attacked Vallas as having hurt Chicago Public Schools' finances during his tenure as CEO of Chicago Public Schools. Vallas accused Johnson of lacking "substance", accusing him of lacking a significant political record. Vallas campaigned on lowering crime while characterizing Brandon Johnson as wanting to "defund the police".

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. 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.

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. While Vallas expressed his belief that it is a foregone matter that the Bears will not reconsider a move to Arlington Heights, in the runoff Johnson reiterated his previously declared stance that the city should still pursue the opportunity to negotiate with the football team, 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".

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. His victory was described as an upset victory by several media outlets. He became mayor at noon on May 15, 2023.

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.

Johnson had been significantly out-fundraised in the election by Vallas, and outspent by a ratio of nearly 2-to-1. Some journalists have attributed grassroots organizing in support of Johnson's candidacy as having been the difference-maker in his victory.

Mayoralty

Transition

Many of those leading Johnson transition team, including its chair, have ties to trade unions.

On April 6, 2023, Mayor-elect Johnson met with Mayor Lightfoot at her Chicago City Hall office in order to discuss the mayoral transition. The following day, Mayor-elect Johnson met in person with Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker. He met in person with Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on April 14, 2023.

On April 11, 2023, Chicago was announced to have won the right to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention. 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. 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. 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.

Approximately a week after his election, Johnson joined a picket line alongside striking faculty members at Chicago State University.

In April 2023, after several large groups of teens and young adults engaged in shootings and vandalism across multiple locations in the city, 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."

On April 18, Johnson began a trip to the state capital of Springfield, Illinois, holding meetings there with state lawmakers. The following day he addressed the Illinois General Assembly.

Johnson made staff decisions during the transition period, such as selecting his mayoral chief of staff. It was announced that Interim Chief of Police Eric Carter would step down from that position on the day that Johnson is inaugurated.

Tenure

Johnson was inaugurated at noon on May 15, 2023, at the Credit Union 1 Arena. Hours later he signed four executive orders relating to public safety, migrants and youth employment.

In October 2023, City Council passed the "One Fair Wage" ordinance with the support of Johnson. The ordinance establishes a timeline for the eventual elimination of the "subminimum wage" for tipped workers by July 1, 2028.

In late November 2023, Johnson acknowledged that the City of Chicago, with the backing of Gov. J.B. Pritzker, was set to construct a tent city hosting mostly Venezuelan migrants on the Southwest Side. Along with the encampments, Johnson teamed up with churches in 17 of Chicago's parishes to house roughly 350 migrants.

On January 31, 2024, Johnson supported a resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas war. Daniel Goldwin of the Jewish United Fund said that Johnson "angered the real mainstream part of the Jewish community."

On February 20, 2024, Johnson as Mayor of Chicago announced lawsuits against major oil and gas companies including BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Phillips 66, Shell, and the American Petroleum Institute, accusing them of deceiving the public about the climate change impacts of their products, as the city of Chicago seeks accountability for climate change-related damages it has suffered.

During the 2023 mayoral campaign, Johnson campaigned on passing the "Bring Chicago Home" ordinance, a plan to increase the City's real estate transfer tax (RETT) on property sales over $1 million to fund affordable housing and homelessness support services. In November 2023, City Council voted to put a referendum to change the tax on the primary election in March 2024. The referendum failed, with 53.2% of voters opposing the measure.

Approval polling

The conservative Koch network-backed Illinois Policy Institute conducted a poll of 800 registered voters in October 2023, finding that 28% of respondents approved of Johnson, 50% disapproved, and 22% had no opinion, with a margin of error of ±4.4%.

Personal life

Johnson lives in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago with his wife, Stacie, and their three children.

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. However, Johnson's debts were confirmed to be paid in full by March 31, 2023.