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| The kiss of death. |
The Chicago mayoral runoff is going to be a challenge between a former school official who has the backing of the police union and county official who has the backing of the teacher's union.
Lori Lightfoot is out. She was eliminated in the primary for mayor. So who is left?
Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson.
Vallas who is backed by moderate Democrats and some Republicans and Johnson who is backed by progressive Democrats.
Paul Vallas is gaining momentum and it appears that Brandon Johnson is going to "Nina Turner" his campaign. He will have Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) campaign for him a week before the election.
Sanders said he backed Johnson because the Chicago Teachers Union organizer “understands the struggle of working people.”
“(Johnson) is not afraid to stand up for strong unions and make big corporations and the rich pay their fair share to invest in affordable housing, quality health care, better schools and good jobs,” Sanders said in a statement.
Mind you, Sanders and his bombastic politics has turned off voters. It can happen again with him complaining about Vallas being backed by billionaires. Sanders will not focus on Chicago dealing with crime, population loss and economic development. He will say things that sound great in speeches but not possible of passing in a bitterly divided Congress. He will use the same tired tactics of painting an opponent as the establishment.
He leveled these allegations against President Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH) and New York mayor Eric Adams.
Former candidates Ja’Mal Green, Willie Wilson and Ald. Roderick Sawyer have endorsed Vallas.
Eighteen City Council members reelected on Feb. 28 have endorsed Vallas, including Ald. Michelle Harris (8th Ward), Ald. David Moore (17th Ward), Ald. Derrick Curtis (18th Ward), Ald. Anthony Beale (9th Ward) and Ald. Emma Mitts (37th Ward), who backed Vallas, the former CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, on Thursday.
All had endorsed Mayor Lori Lightfoot before the Feb. 28 election, and she won all of their South and West Side wards but finished third overall. Harris served as Lightfoot’s City Council floor leader and Rules Committee chair, and Mitts chairs the License and Consumer Protection committee. Beale was one of Lightfoot’s harshest critics.
Ald.-elect Bennett Lawson (44th Ward) and 11th Ward Ald. Nicole Lee, who faces a runoff on April 4, have also endorsed Vallas.
Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2, which represents Chicago’s rank-and-file paramedics and firefighters, joined the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, the union that represents Chicago’s rank-and-file police officers, in backing Vallas.
“Local 2 endorses Paul Vallas for mayor because he will put the needs of Chicago’s firefighters, paramedics and all first responders first,” said Local 2 President Jim Tracy. “We know he understands the challenges our firefighters and paramedics face given his experience in government and as the proud father of a Chicago firefighter.”
In addition to the firefighters and police unions, Vallas has the support of Plumbers Local 130, Operating Engineers Local 150, IBEW Local 134 and IBEW Local 9.
Johnson has the support of three unions affiliated with the Service Employees International Union, as well as the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, known as AFSCME, and the Chicago Teachers Union.
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