

Johnson has avoided the word “defund” during the race, and his campaign says he does not want to cut the number of police officers. The former teacher and union organizer has argued that the answer to addressing crime is not more money for police but more investment in mental health care, education, jobs and affordable housing, and he was accused by rivals such as Lightfoot of wanting to defund the police. Johnson received about $1 million from the Chicago Teachers Union for his campaign and had support from several other progressive organizations, including United Working Families. 6 insurrectionists at the Capitol and equated Lightfoot’s vaccine mandate for city workers to the Holocaust.


Lightfoot blasted him for welcoming support from the police union’s controversial leader, who defended the Jan. Vallas’ opponents have criticized him as too conservative to lead the Democratic stronghold. He has called for adding hundreds of police officers to patrol the city, saying crime is out of control and morale among officers has sunk to a new low during Lightfoot’s tenure. Vallas served as an adviser to the Fraternal Order of Police during its negotiations with Lightfoot’s administration. There are clear contrasts between Vallas and Johnson. The pandemic also may shape elections for mayor in other cities this year, such as Philadelphia and Houston, where incumbents cannot run again due to term limits. Public safety has been an issue in other recent elections, including the recall of a San Francisco district attorney who was criticized for progressive policies. cities following the COVID-19 pandemic, with its economic fallout and spikes in violent crime in many places. But it’s also a sign of the turmoil in U.S. Lightfoot’s loss is unusual for mayors in large cities, who have tended to win reelection with relative ease. She is the first elected Chicago mayor to lose a reelection bid since 1983, when Jane Byrne, the city’s first female mayor, lost her Democratic primary.
