Brandon Johnson
Brandon Johnson is an American politician and former educator who since 2023 has served as the 57th mayor of Chicago. A member of the Democratic Party, Johnson previously served on the Cook County Board of Commissioners from 2018 to 2023, representing the 1st district.
Born and raised in Elgin, Illinois, Johnson started his career as a social studies teacher in the Chicago Public Schools system. He also was an active member of the Chicago Teachers Union, helping organize their 2012 strike. In his first race for public office, Johnson was elected to the Cook County Board of Commissioners in 2018, defeating the incumbent. Johnson represented parts of Chicago's West Side and some of the city's western suburbs. He won reelection in 2022.
Johnson ran successfully for 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 subsequently defeated Vallas in the runoff election.
Throughout his political career, Johnson has been described as a political progressive. As mayor, Johnson has focused on combating homelessness and enacting police and education reform.
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. 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. Johnson attended Elgin High School where he played baseball and was an all-conference defensive lineman in football.When Johnson was nineteen years old, his mother died of congestive heart failure. Johnson met his wife, Stacie Rencher, at a religious convention. They married when Johnson was 22 years old.
Johnson earned a bachelor's degree in youth development in 2004 and a master's degree in teaching in 2007, both from Aurora University in Aurora, Illinois.
Early career
Johnson worked as a social studies teacher at Jenner Academy Elementary from 2007 to 2010, a public school near the Cabrini-Green housing development on Chicago's Near North Side. Johnson then taught at George Westinghouse College Prep high school in the East Garfield Park neighborhood for less than one year, before becoming a full-time organizer. Both are part of the Chicago Public Schools system.Johnson 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.
Johnson and his family live in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago.
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, The People's Lobby, 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, 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 and the first mayor to hail from the city's West Side since the 1930s. Johnson was sworn in as Chicago's 57th mayor on May 15, 2023.First round
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 at Seward Park.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.
In the first round of the election on February 28, Johnson placed second with about 22% of the vote. He advanced to the runoff election on April 4, where he faced Paul Vallas, who placed first in the initial round 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, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun, U.S. Congressman from South Carolina Jim Clyburn, as well as U.S. Senators and former presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.File:2023 Chicago mayoral run-off fourm.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Johnson alongside Paul Vallas at a runoff mayoral forum at Kenwood Academy, March 2023
Johnson criticized Vallas for ties to Republican Party organizations and figures, as well as his ties to conservative causes. In the first runoff debate, Johnson remarked, "Chicago cannot afford Republicans like Paul Vallas". In response, 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 Johnson as wanting to "defund the police".
On April 4, Johnson defeated Vallas to win the runoff election. His victory was described as an upset victory by several media outlets.
Johnson was significantly out-fundraised 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.