Tuesday is Chicago’s municipal election day, and at the top of the ticket is the run for mayor, and this top job is in the minds of most voters, especially with the incumbent Lori Lightfoot facing a field of eight other candidates, and while many polls have zigged and zagged depending on the day, most residents are feeling that with this many candidates there is the definite possibility of a runoff election in April; and as dictated by law, if no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff is automatically triggered.
Lightfoot has become wildly unpopular with many residents in her weakened efforts to battle crime, with criticism from both conservatives and progressives, whether it was dealing with the pandemic and covid restrictions (closing gyms, and other recreational facilities) earned her the enmity of some business owners, who eventually flouted mask rules and capacity limitations,
She has received the most criticism towards the increase in violent crime, that included street robberies, car jackings, and most of all, regular violence on the city’s famous El trains, the Red Line, in particular, where robberies, stabbings, beatings and other violent forms of assault became the norm.
Lightfoot’s hand picked police department chief David Brown, has been criticized for a lackluster response since his early days when the city dealt with protestors that tagged onto the peaceful demonstrations, and posh Michigan Avenue stores were looted, often in full sight of the police and television cameras.
Crime has become the central issue for most voters and there is frustration from many quarters, not only on the uneven response, but, as Live Free Chicago noted, the clearance rate for solving crimes by police is 21.7 percent in Black neighborhoods, and 45.6 percent in white areas.
Chicago public schools have also raised ire, and concern, by many who see decreased enrollment but greater demands for money, and in some cases new school buildings.
The mayor from her early days in office has battled the powerful Chicago Teachers Union, in what could be frankly seen as a mortal combat, and in fact one recent school superintdent quit, in virtual disgust at her dealings with CTU.
These two issues have become paramount in the minds of voters along with twinned issues of police accountability, with the most glaring news of a policeman who was part of the Jan.6th Capitol insurrection, as a member of the now infamous Proud Boys, but who was only given a suspension by Brown; and joined by reports that both elementary and high school students not being able to read, or do math, at grade levels.
Lightfoots closest rival is Paul Vallas, a former CPS head, who some say “messed” up the schools, only to flee the city. He has garnered significant support from the Fraternal Order of Police, and he is running on a strict law and order platform, but his association with that organization and especially John Catanzarra, a former chief who has made questionable comments that some listeners associated with racism, while others praised him a voice for the police, and many residents, wrongfully have said that the mayor wants to defund the police, but in fact has given them the highest raise of many of her predecessors, but this seems as the saying says, all is fair in love and war, and this seems to be war.
Vallas has made questionable remarks in the past, many recorded, on whether he is truly a Democrat, or a Republican, with past statements saying he would run as a Republican in this blue city, after a previous loss as mayor.
As the only white candidate in a long segregated city, he has also earned the support of traditional white ethnic communities such as the Irish, Polish and German, and the somewhat relatively unknown, but powerful Greek American community, of which he is a member.
This pits him against the Black communities as they have faced a long history of police brutality under former Chicago Police Department Commander John Burch, who coordinated tortures of Black male prisoners, and the later shooting of Laquan McDonald in 2014, by CDP officer Jason Van Dyke.
Race is never far from the surface in American life, and running against a Black woman, as the only white candidate, makes many Black voters wary and his statements about taking the city back caused Lightfoot to say that he was “blowing the ultimate dog whistle, saying: “Take our city back, meaning what? To what time? And take our city back from whom?”
She also referenced Republican Bernie Epton who ran against Harold Washington, the city’s first Black mayor, in 1983, in a volatile racially tinged election, on a slogan of: “Vote for Epton before it is too late.”
Progressives have railed against his anti abortion stance, which he says is personal, and based on his Greek Orthodox faith, and previous statements about the teaching of Black history, that he conflates with Critical Race Theory, which is not taught in elementary and high schools.
Next up as a top contender is former Cook County Commissioner, and member of Congress, Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, whose late entry into the race caused some consternation among local political observers.
While long considered the favorite of the CTU they abandoned their support, and while he did gain support from other elected officials, such as Jan Schakowsy,and Mike Quigley, both members of Congress, and some local trade unions including Teamsters 705, and 727, but the plum endorsement evaporated, and critics said he seemed more like Lightfoot, the death knell for the undecided which are currently 19 percent.
Veteran political speechwriter Jason DeSanto told local PBS station, WTTW, that in addition to late TV ads, and a weakened position that he “had a muddled message,” and that his strong base of support was among the Latino community, “But he really has not done a very good job of expanding beyond that base and really articulating a clear message as to what he stands for with respect to other communities.”
His early repeated references to working with Harold Washington have all but disappeared after a press release questioned the relationship, without specifically naming Garcia.
Surging in the polls is Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, whose youth and creative positions on crime, police accountability, and education (as a former teacher) has galvanized Black voters and has resulted in Lightfoot saying that she is the only candidate of choice for Black residents, and has accused, Johnson, falsely, of wanting to defund the police.
What he wants to do is take some of the money from the police budget to harness violence prevention and social services to the South and West sides. And, he has spoken of his lived experiences, as a Black man living on the West Side, facing the issues that many of his constituents have.
Blacks make up 29 percent of the total population of Chicago.
David Axelrod, political analyst, who propelled Barack Obama to the presidency has told the Sun Times that Lightfoot has a “steep, steep hill to climb” and that the two top contenders could be Vallas and Johnson, and that the latter coming from the position of being an unknown would be a significant push aided by his “big personality.”
A recent poll by M3 Strategies had Vallas at 32 percent, and Johnson at 18 percent and growing, but that is changing, but beyond the polls the confluence of crime, and weakened public education are primary and who can show they have the grasp of those vital issues is the winner.
