Self-declared “progressive” Democrat Brandon Johnson emerged victorious from Tuesday’s runoff election to determine the next mayor of beleaguered Chicago.
His campaign for defunding the city’s police department and hiking taxes was enough to derail moderate Democrat Paul Vallas’ bid for the top job. Vallas, the former Chicago Public Schools head, held the lead for most of the evening before being overcome by Johnson.
Vallas ran as the candidate to tackle the Windy City’s skyrocketing violent crime rate while creating a business-friendly environment. Not so for Johnson, who pulled out all stops and even called the moderate Democrat a “racist.”
Over half a million ballots were cast in the contentious race.
Brandon Johnson ran his entire campaign on anti-whiteness
He just won his race for Chicago mayor pic.twitter.com/46JYXYUzlU
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 5, 2023
The Chicago Tribune reported that Johnson, in the summer of 2020 following the death of George Floyd, introduced the “Justice for Black Lives” resolution.
The then-Cook County commissioner called for taxpayer dollars to be redirected “from policing and incarceration to public services not administered by law enforcement.” He slammed soon-to-be ex-Mayor Lori Lightfoot for her opposition to removing funds from Chicago Police.
Johnson said the mayor occupied the “wrong side of history” and that her supporters need to “come to their own reckoning.” He boasted at that time that his resolution would provide commissioners a map for redirecting “waste” spent on incarceration and policing towards reinvestment.
On Tuesday night, his victory speech lauded the civil rights and labor movements as the real winners of Chicago’s mayoral election. Johnson told a crowd of supporters that his will be a government that belongs to the city’s people.
To end his speech, the man who was a virtual unknown six months ago declared that it was a night to “celebrate the revival and the resurrection of the City of Chicago.” He thanked the voters for placing their faith in “our movement.”
Johnson will be sworn in on May 15.
If the radical Democrat sticks to his progressive pledges, he may have the honor of making Lightfoot appear to be a wildly successful mayor. His being beholden to anti-police positions is a bad sign for a city being crushed by violent crime, and unfortunately, it will be city residents who pay the price.
