Brandon Johnson Defeated Paul Vallas’s Austerity Agenda Last Night
In Chicago’s mayoral runoff last night, Paul Vallas’s vision of budget cuts and law and order lost to Brandon Johnson’s promises to tax the rich and invest in social services.
Progressive mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson during his Rally at Credit Union One Arena in Chicago on March 30, 2023. (Jacek Boczarski / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
On Tuesday night, Chicago’s left scored its biggest victory in recent memory. Brandon Johnson, a former Chicago Public Schools teacher and union organizer, defeated Paul Vallas, a privatization zealot, to become the city’s next mayor.
This outcome was far from presumed. Johnson started the race polling at just 3 percent. In January, outgoing Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot promised that “Brandon Johnson isn’t going to be mayor of this city.” She was proven wrong. Next month, he will be sworn in to lead the third-largest city in the nation, a watershed moment for the progressive movement that took Johnson over the finish line.
A week ahead of the April 4 election, Johnson rallied alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders in Chicago, who declared, “The fundamental issue is: What side are you on? Are you on the side of working people or are you on the side of the speculators and the billionaires? And I know which side Brandon is on.”
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