Brandon Johnson’s shocking victory in Chicago’s April 4 mayoral election has sparked intense reactions across the spectrum. Three months ago, few expected a black organizer from a militant union to defeat an opponent who enjoyed the unified backing of big business and police and a two-to-one funding advantage. While Johnson campaigned on taxing large corporations, addressing the social roots of crime, and enacting a modicum of police accountability, his opponent Paul Vallas pledged more school privatization, more austerity for workers, and free rein for police.

Johnson’s win not only offers hope for transforming a ruthlessly unequal city, but signals what the Left could accomplish elsewhere. For that reason, the election has elicited fear and rage from the lords of the city and trepidation from the national business press. Investors are issuing dire warnings of capital flight, while police officials are predicting an explosion in street crime.

To the extent that Johnson and his allies on the city council attempt to deliver, they will incur a phalanx of resistance. Reactionary forces may have lost the election, but they retain enormous power to coerce both policymakers and the general population.