{"id":1010271,"date":"2023-03-01T15:43:10","date_gmt":"2023-03-01T15:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jacobin.com\/2023\/03\/brandon-johnson-paul-vallas-chicago-mayor-race-runoff\/"},"modified":"2023-03-01T15:52:47","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T15:52:47","slug":"brandon-johnson-is-heading-to-chicagos-mayoral-runoff-as-a-champion-of-the-working-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2023\/03\/01\/brandon-johnson-is-heading-to-chicagos-mayoral-runoff-as-a-champion-of-the-working-class\/","title":{"rendered":"Brandon Johnson Is Heading to Chicago\u2019s Mayoral Runoff as a Champion of the Working Class"},"content":{"rendered":"\n  \n\n\n\n<h3>The results of last night\u2019s Chicago mayor election were stunning: former Chicago Teachers Union organizer Brandon Johnson advanced to an April runoff against neoliberal architect Paul Vallas \u2014 pitting working-class power against austerity.<\/h3>\n<hr\/>\n\n<figure>\n  <img alt src=\"https:\/\/images.jacobinmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/01154150\/GettyImages-1247571716-900x612.jpg\"\/>\n  <figcaption>\n    Mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson addresses supporters after forcing a mayoral runoff election last night in Chicago. (Terrence Antonio James \/ Chicago Tribune \/ Tribune News Service via Getty Images)\n  <\/figcaption>   \n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n  \n  <p>On Tuesday night, the tectonic plates bracing Chicago politics tilted dramatically. Brandon Johnson, a former rank-and-file member of and staff organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), secured a spot in the runoff race for mayor, where he will face conservative privatizer Paul Vallas on April 4.<\/p>\n<p>Outperforming both incumbent mayor Lori Lightfoot and Representative Jes\u00fas \u201cChuy\u201d Garc\u00eda, Johnson pulled off a shocking upset. He ran an unapologetic left-wing campaign that prioritized taxing the rich to fund social programs and reimagining public safety to increase investments in mental health and other city services. At his victory party last night, Johnson <a href=\"https:\/\/chicago.suntimes.com\/elections\/2023\/2\/28\/23619711\/chicago-mayor-lori-lightfoot-vallas-johnson-april-4-runoff\">announced<\/a>, \u201cThe finances of this city belong to the people of the city. So we\u2019re gonna invest in the people of the city.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Johnson, who now serves as an elected member of the Cook County Board, started the race with little name recognition and faced eight challengers. Just a month ago, Lightfoot scoffed at Johnson\u2019s candidacy, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/heathercherone\/status\/1627798727548190722?s=21&amp;t=uItrDQ9GwMJMtqd-U9DvPA&amp;fbclid=IwAR1_m2yaaANx2hoH67QYVnQF2II3lBuvNhIKW-avXTOvcaH5ODqrpJckpj8\">claim<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/heathercherone\/status\/1627798727548190722?s=21&amp;t=uItrDQ9GwMJMtqd-U9DvPA&amp;fbclid=IwAR1_m2yaaANx2hoH67QYVnQF2II3lBuvNhIKW-avXTOvcaH5ODqrpJckpj8\">ing<\/a> that he \u201cis not going to make the runoff\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HeatherCherone\/status\/1616976134750478337\">and<\/a> \u201cisn\u2019t going to be mayor of this city.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Lightfoot scoffing at CTU\u2019s mayoral endorsement: \u201cThey\u2019ve endorsed Brandon Johnson. God bless. Brandon Johnson isn\u2019t going to be the mayor of this city.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; David Weigel (@daveweigel) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/daveweigel\/status\/1616891444580564993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 21, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Lightfoot is the first Chicago mayor in forty years to be denied a second term. She faced <a href=\"https:\/\/inthesetimes.com\/article\/chicago-mayor-lori-lightfoot-chuy-garcia-brandon-johnson-paul-vallas-election\">opposition<\/a> from voters across the political spectrum, including those who supported her four years ago. After abandoning many of her progressive campaign promises from 2019 once in office, liberals grew critical of her administration, while more moderate and conservative residents blamed her for an increase in crime and other problems afflicting the city. Garc\u00eda, meanwhile, underperformed after being widely expected to beat Johnson, due in part to having <a href=\"https:\/\/jacobin.com\/2015\/03\/rahm-emanuel-chuy-garcia-runoff\/\">forced<\/a> previous mayor Rahm Emanuel into a runoff in 2015. Whether Garc\u00eda, who has governed as a progressive in Congress, now gets behind Johnson\u2019s mayoral bid remains to be seen.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout his campaign, Johnson made fighting inequality across the city a central theme, prioritizing working-class communities while taxing Chicago\u2019s wealthy. He received major backing from the CTU and United Working Families, a coalition of left-wing organizations and unions that has become a highly influential player in city politics over the past decade. He also received support from national groups like the Working Families Party.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson\u2019s ascent sets up a stark choice for Chicago voters, who will decide in April whether to embrace a progressive approach to urban politics or return to the neoliberal model that created many of the problems now plaguing the city. Crime, in particular, will be central to the campaign, making the runoff a test case of whether Johnson\u2019s anti-carceral, pro\u2013social services approach can defeat a traditional law-and-order, reactionary appeal by Vallas.<\/p>\n\n  \n\n    \n      \n        <hr\/>\n        <h2>A Movement Mayor?<\/h2>\n        \n          <p>Johnson got his start teaching in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) in 2007, first at Jenner Elementary in the Cabrini-Green neighborhood on the Near North Side and later Westinghouse College Prep on the West Side. He then joined CTU\u2019s staff alongside its then <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jacobinmag\/videos\/in-remembrance-of-working-class-hero-karen-lewis\/3198145086954171\/\">president Karen Lewis<\/a>, who helped reshape the union into a democratic and militant force that fought austerity not only in public education but in city politics generally. In that role, Johnson helped coordinate the <a href=\"https:\/\/jacobin.com\/2012\/12\/ctu-and-dems\">historic<\/a> 2012 teachers strike, worked to block school privatization schemes, joined hunger strikers at the shuttered poor and working-class <a href=\"https:\/\/jacobin.com\/2019\/02\/jeanette-taylor-koco-chicago-schools-20th-ward\">Dyett High School<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/chicago.suntimes.com\/education\/2020\/8\/17\/21372534\/dyett-high-school-hunger-strikers-five-year-anniversary\">successfully<\/a> advocated for its reopening, and fought to win an elected school board (rather than one handpicked by the mayor), which finally <a href=\"https:\/\/inthesetimes.com\/article\/chicago-elected-school-board-lightfoot-ctu-democracy\">became<\/a> law in 2021.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pq pq--center\"><q>Johnson\u2019s agenda represents a profound break from the corporate-friendly politics that have dominated Chicago in the neoliberal era.<\/q><\/aside>\n<p>In 2018, Johnson was elected to the Cook County Board, where he continues to serve. In office, he has <a href=\"https:\/\/citizennewspapergroup.com\/news\/2023\/jan\/04\/mayoral-candidate-wants-more-equitable-chicago\/\">sponso<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/citizennewspapergroup.com\/news\/2023\/jan\/04\/mayoral-candidate-wants-more-equitable-chicago\/\">red<\/a> the Just Housing Amendment, which ended discrimination against the formerly incarcerated, as well as the <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagobond.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/budget-for-black-lives-2.pdf\">Budget for Black Lives<\/a>, which helped lead to a multimillion-dollar <a href=\"https:\/\/budgetforblacklives.org\/about\/\">investment<\/a> in community resources and violence prevention \u2014 including affordable housing, health care, and other supports \u2014 as part of the 2021 Cook County budget. Johnson also helped to create a program aimed at <a href=\"https:\/\/news.wttw.com\/2023\/01\/10\/thousands-cook-county-residents-may-see-medical-debt-disappear-under-new-program\">canceling<\/a> up to $1 billion in medical debt, secure legal representation for immigrant refugees facing deportation, and launch a guaranteed income pilot that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbez.org\/stories\/cook-county-board-approves-88-billion-spending-plan-for-next-year\/f2350b69-dd7b-4bf0-9c66-9f24b8cac288\">offers<\/a> $500 per month to thousands of low-income residents.<\/p>\n<p>In his mayoral run, Johnson\u2019s stated priorities <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcchicago.com\/news\/local\/who-is-brandon-johnson-what-to-know-about-the-cook-county-commissioner-after-advancing-to-the-runoff-election\/3083711\/\">include<\/a> increasing funding to neighborhood schools, year-round youth employment programs, reopening the city\u2019s public mental health clinics shuttered by former mayor Rahm Emanuel, reducing fares on public transit, investing in new affordable housing, and instituting a \u201cChicago Green New Deal\u201d to boost environmental protections. To pay for this agenda, Johnson <a href=\"https:\/\/chicago.suntimes.com\/city-hall\/2023\/1\/23\/23568177\/mayoral-challenger-brandon-johnson-taxes-real-estate-financial-transactions\">proposed<\/a> a real estate transfer tax on luxury home sales, a financial transaction tax, a head tax on large, profitable companies that do business in the city, and new user fees for high-end commercial districts. <a href=\"https:\/\/blockclubchicago.org\/2023\/02\/08\/brandon-johnson-wants-to-support-neighborhood-schools-and-make-the-wealthy-pay-their-fair-share-not-hire-more-cops\/\">According<\/a> to Johnson, \u201cThe ultra-rich and large corporations continue to benefit from the subjugation and the isolation of poverty, and my budget plan speaks to these critical investments.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to public safety, which played a central role in the mayor\u2019s race, Johnson <a href=\"https:\/\/blockclubchicago.org\/2023\/02\/08\/brandon-johnson-wants-to-support-neighborhood-schools-and-make-the-wealthy-pay-their-fair-share-not-hire-more-cops\/\">plans<\/a> to pass the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.collaborativeforcommunitywellness.org\/treatmentnottrauma\">Treatment Not Trauma<\/a>\u201d ordinance advanced by socialist city council member <a href=\"https:\/\/jacobin.com\/author\/rossana-rodriguez-sanchez\">Rossana Rodriguez<\/a>, which would create a hotline to deal with crisis response, invest in violence prevention programs, end no-knock warrants, establish a dedicated office to deal with illegal guns, and end the city\u2019s gang database, which opponents have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.macarthurjustice.org\/case\/chicagoans-for-an-end-to-the-gang-database\/\">claimed<\/a> in a class action lawsuit is racially discriminatory.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pq pq--right\"><q>Paul Vallas is the envoy of Chicago\u2019s corporate class.<\/q><\/aside>\n<p>Taken together, Johnson\u2019s agenda represents a profound break from the corporate-friendly politics that have dominated Chicago in the neoliberal era. As the leader of the third-largest city in the country, a Mayor Johnson could be positioned to usher in a new era of urban progressivism unseen in recent memory, if he and the forces supporting him can overcome the massive pushback that capital will mobilize against him.<\/p>\n<p>In order to win, however, he will first have to overcome both a well-financed opponent and a political and economic establishment fully at odds with his platform, especially as it relates to the issue of policing.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson made it to the runoff \u2014\u00a0even while competing for liberal votes against Garc\u00eda, who was the standard-bearer of left-wing politics in the city\u2019s mayoral race two cycles ago\u00a0\u2014 by articulating a progressive approach to crime that does not include massively expanding policing. He <a href=\"https:\/\/chicago.suntimes.com\/elections\/2023\/2\/6\/23587777\/chicago-mayor-election-2023-brandon-johnson-crime-strategy-police-cpd-training-garcia-lightfoot\">noted<\/a> on the campaign trail that the Chicago Police Department\u2019s budget of $1.94 billion is \u201cbigger than it\u2019s ever been, and we\u2019re still not safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_172303\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-172303\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-172303\" src=\"https:\/\/images.jacobinmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/09145903\/GettyImages-151784119-900x615.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"615\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-172303\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chicago public school teachers and supporters picket in front of the Chicago Public Schools headquarters, September 11, 2012. (Scott Olson \/ Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Many observers have argued that, at a time when crime is a serious concern for many voters, especially working-class voters, this approach to public safety will sink left-wing candidates. In Buffalo, for example, left-wing mayoral candidate India Walton was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/opinion\/buffalo-mayoral-candidate-india-walton-vulnerable-police-reform-n1282674\">attacked repeatedly<\/a> as a \u201cdefund the police\u201d candidate and defeated. That was not the case in Chicago last night: voters didn\u2019t run from Johnson\u2019s criminal-justice proposals.<\/p>\n<p>But in the runoff, Johnson will be under constant bombardment on this issue. He will have to figure out how to parry Vallas\u2019s law-and-order attacks in a way that can win the election without abandoning progressive principles.<\/p>\n\n        \n      \n        <hr\/>\n        <h2>Chain Saw Paul<\/h2>\n        \n          <p>On the other side stands Paul Vallas, the envoy of Chicago\u2019s corporate class. While he has never held elected office before, Vallas has managed to do monumental harm to working-class communities across the country as an appointed administrator of austerity. The bulk of that damage has been inflicted on Chicago.<\/p>\n<p>Vallas has never been an educator. As he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1999\/12\/29\/nyregion\/in-chicago-schools-chief-as-executive.html\">t<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1999\/12\/29\/nyregion\/in-chicago-schools-chief-as-executive.html\">old<\/a> the <em>New York Times<\/em>, &#8221;I\u2019m not unfamiliar with the classroom, but my experience is finance and management.&#8221;<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pq pq--right\"><q>If Vallas becomes mayor, he has promised to take on organized labor \u2014 especially the CTU, which has long been a target of his professional and political career.<\/q><\/aside>\n<p>Starting in the mid-1980s, Vallas led the Illinois Economic and Fiscal Commission before being hired by Mayor Richard M. Daley, first as Chicago\u2019s director of revenue and then, in 1990, as municipal budget director. In these roles, Vallas was responsible for implementing austerity policies like doubling parking-ticket collections and helping balloon the city\u2019s pension debt through creative budgetary gimmicks, which would then be used as a pretense to cut social spending programs for successive decades. Vallas also guided the creation of a slew of new tax increment financing (TIF) districts, budget instruments intended to aid \u201cblighted\u201d areas, that have overwhelmingly benefited corporations and wealthy developers.<\/p>\n<p>In 1995, Daley handpicked Vallas to become CEO of CPS, which came under direct mayoral control that year rather than being run democratically after a Republican-drafted bill designed to centralize power over the education system passed the Illinois state legislature. Vallas\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/chicago.chalkbeat.org\/2023\/2\/27\/23614124\/chicago-mayor-race-paul-vallas-chicago-public-schools-kam-buckner-brandon-johnson\">tenure<\/a> at CPS included attacking and vilifying the teachers\u2019 union, privatizing services like custodial staff, firing educators, and elevating standardized testing as a primary marker of student and school achievement, which created a path to close \u201cunderperforming\u201d schools and replace them with charters. In line with his \u201cbusiness model\u201d for education, Vallas slashed school budgets and ended key CPS programs. He also paused pension payments for CPS workers and moved money into a general fund, which led to disastrous consequences for the school district\u2019s budget that are still being felt today.<\/p>\n<p>Once Vallas\u2019s promised future of higher test scores and better education outcomes failed to materialize, he resigned from CPS in 2001 and took a new job in Philadelphia, where he <a href=\"https:\/\/philadelphia.chalkbeat.org\/2007\/5\/23\/22181785\/vallas-leaves-a-changed-district-again-in-tumult\">continued<\/a> to pursue a privatization agenda as CEO of the school system there until 2007. In this position, he outsourced everything from curriculum writing to school management while handing over dozens of \u201clow-performing\u201d schools to private operators. Vallas again oversaw massive budget deficits and left the system in financial disarray. His penchant for such cuts led <em>Forbes<\/em> magazine to dub him \u201cChain Saw Paul.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_183314\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-183314\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-183314\" src=\"https:\/\/images.jacobinmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/01153957\/GettyImages-1247559833-900x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-183314\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chicago mayoral candidate and former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas leaves Robert Healy Elementary School after casting his ballot, February 28. (Kamil Krzaczynski \/ Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Vallas then moved to New Orleans, where he was put in charge of the city\u2019s school system in 2007, after Hurricane Katrina. He quickly replaced the city\u2019s public schools with charters and <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=l1TYDwAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PT183&amp;lpg=PT183&amp;dq=paul+vallas+new+orleans+education+close+schools+charter&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=mBh_evKvBZ&amp;sig=ACfU3U1lSS0y4T9EshLgV50g2Qb8SLUnBQ&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwi-_9n-gLr9AhUAnWoFHbfsBCo4KBDoAXoECAIQAw#v=onepage&amp;q=paul%20vallas%20new%20orleans%20education%20close%20schools%20charter&amp;f=false\">us<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=l1TYDwAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PT183&amp;lpg=PT183&amp;dq=paul+vallas+new+orleans+education+close+schools+charter&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=mBh_evKvBZ&amp;sig=ACfU3U1lSS0y4T9EshLgV50g2Qb8SLUnBQ&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwi-_9n-gLr9AhUAnWoFHbfsBCo4KBDoAXoECAIQAw#v=onepage&amp;q=paul%20vallas%20new%20orleans%20education%20close%20schools%20charter&amp;f=false\">ed<\/a> misleading data calculations to illustrate supposed success in improving school performance. During this period, Vallas also <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20090207050013\/http:\/www.suntimes.com\/news\/marin\/1412159,CST-NWS-Carol04.article\">toyed<\/a> with the idea of running for office back in Chicago\u00a0\u2014 as a Republican.<\/p>\n<p>His next stops were abroad, in <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkingschools.org\/articles\/shock-doctrine-schooling-in-haiti\/\">Haiti<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nola.com\/news\/education\/recovery-school-districts-paul-vallas-to-help-overhaul-schools-in-chile\/article_1c7f3009-57ee-5eb7-9292-d0f0c2721780.html\">Chile<\/a>, where he continued to push a market-fundamentalist approach to both education and the economy. In 2012, he returned back to the States as the new superintendent of the school system in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The role was short-lived, however, as Vallas was swiftly <a href=\"https:\/\/talique31102.medium.com\/paul-vallas-would-be-a-disaster-for-chicago-5ebee7779852\">removed<\/a> from his post by a judge for not being qualified, or \u201cproperly credentialed,\u201d for the job. He then joined an ill-fated Democratic Illinois gubernatorial ticket alongside Pat Quinn, which lost to Republican billionaire Bruce Rauner in 2014.<\/p>\n\n        \n      \n        <hr\/>\n        <h2>The Right\u2019s Candidate<\/h2>\n        \n          <p>It\u2019s not just Vallas\u2019s past that should concern Chicago voters. He has run a textbook law-and-order campaign for mayor, stressing the need for an extreme police crackdown in the city. Endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police Chicago Lodge, Vallas has campaigned alongside its president, John Catanzara, who has voiced open support for the January 6 rioters and is a strong backer of Donald Trump. Vallas\u2019s plan calls for hiring 1,200 more cops, in a city where 40 percent of the budget is already earmarked for policing, while violent crime continues to beset residents despite continual increased investments in law enforcement.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pq pq--right\"><q>This is a challenge that the Chicago left-progressive movement has been hoping for and building toward for many years.<\/q><\/aside>\n<p>Vallas has made tackling crime the centerpiece of his mayoral run, citing the need for more police to deal with crimes like carjackings and shootings, which are overrepresented in areas of the city that have faced systematic disinvestment. He\u2019s received financial support from big-money Republican donors and last year <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagoreader.com\/news-politics\/paul-vallas-rubs-shoulders-with-the-far-right\/\">spoke<\/a> at a fundraiser for a far-right group, Awake Illinois, that traffics in homophobic and transphobic rhetoric. Vallas has also joined the right-wing panic against critical race theory, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/waldens_block\/status\/1628428471650160641\">calling<\/a> it \u201cdangerous\u201d and saying it \u201cundermines the relationship of children with their parents.\u201d He has also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/illinois-playbook\/2023\/02\/03\/abortion-rustles-the-mayors-race-00081066\">said<\/a>, \u201cFundamentally, I oppose abortion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vallas\u2019s right-wing connections and record are well-documented, and so are his close relationships with Chicago\u2019s corporate elite. Major figures in private equity, venture capitalism, real estate development, and the health care industry have been strong <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagobusiness.com\/politics\/mary-tolan-brian-miller-make-big-donations-paul-vallas\">supporters<\/a> of his campaign. If he becomes mayor, he has <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagoreader.com\/news-politics\/paul-vallas-rubs-shoulders-with-the-far-right\/\">promised<\/a> to take on organized labor\u00a0\u2014 especially the CTU, which has long been a target of his professional and political career.<\/p>\n\n        \n      \n        <hr\/>\n        <h2>Runway to the Runoff<\/h2>\n        \n          <p>The next five weeks will test whether Johnson\u2019s redistributive platform and a new approach to public safety can win a majority of voters who will be overwhelmed with warnings about the dangers he poses to the status quo. While Johnson has organized labor\u2019s backing, Vallas will continue to unite organized capital behind him. And the racial stratification that has marked Chicago for decades will present challenges for building the type of \u201crainbow coalition\u201d necessary to repeat the type of progressive victory achieved by former mayor Harold Washington in 1983.<\/p>\n<p>If he wins, Johnson will face enormous odds as mayor of a city where corporations have called the shots under successive administrations. Forces like the Chicago Chamber of Commerce and Board of Trade would likely try to stand in the way of his progressive economic and taxation plans, while other businesses could threaten capital flight. What\u2019s more, the police union could potentially take actions, such as \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2020\/08\/03\/how-police-unions-fight-reform\">blue flu<\/a><u>,<\/u>\u201d intended to resist reforms and even sabotage his mayorship.<\/p>\n<p>Yet this is a challenge that the Chicago left-progressive movement has been hoping for and building toward for years. The fact that one of that movement\u2019s own could soon occupy the fifth floor of city hall is a testament to the dedicated organizing that countless social justice advocates have taken up to create a more equitable city.<\/p>\n<p>As Johnson <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/chicago\/video\/brandon-johnson-celebrates-making-mayoral-runoff\/#x\">said<\/a> on Tuesday night, \u201cA few months ago, they said they didn\u2019t know who I was. Well, if you didn\u2019t know, now you know. . . . We have shifted the political dynamics in this city.\u201d<\/p>\n\n        \n           \n    \n\n   \n  <hr\/>\n  \n\n\n<p class=\"syndicated-attribution\">This post was originally published on <a href=\"https:\/\/jacobin.com\/2023\/03\/brandon-johnson-paul-vallas-chicago-mayor-race-runoff\/\">Jacobin<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Tuesday night, the tectonic plates bracing Chicago politics tilted dramatically. Brandon Johnson, a former rank-and-file member of and staff organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), secured a spot in the runoff race for mayor, where he will face conservative privatizer Paul Vallas on April 4. Outperforming both incumbent mayor Lori Lightfoot and Representative [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":541,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1010271"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/541"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1010271"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1010271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1010272,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1010271\/revisions\/1010272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1010271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1010271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1010271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}