Mayor Brandon Johnson on Monday sought to sidestep the elephant in the room — the 2027 mayoral election — but also delivered a quasi-stump speech while taking fresh shots at the newest entry in the race.
Speaking at a Malcolm X College news conference with the Chicago Teachers Union, the mayor refrained from addressing Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias by name following his Sunday campaign announcement for Johnson’s seat. But he nonetheless launched thinly veiled attacks on his latest possible rival and his donors after announcing the expansion of 15 sustainable community schools.
“My job is to continue to govern and lead in this moment, and as far as the politics of Chicago, there’s a reason why we call it the Windy City, right?” Johnson told reporters when asked about Giannoulias’ candidacy. “You’ll have different waves of people blowing in and out. But the thing that’s most constant, what’s most still, and what’s what remains today, is the Johnson administration.”
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It was the latest instance of the mayor awkwardly dancing around committing to a reelection bid while the field to succeed him gets crowded. Johnson has raised little money for a potential run, and has stuck to a script of focusing on “building the safest, most affordable big city in America” when asked about his looming decision.
But with Giannoulias in the race, Johnson and his progressive coalition have their most heavily funded rival yet, should the incumbent mayor choose to run. And Johnson’s anti-establishment roots were on full display Monday as he sought to tie the new expected frontrunner to the Rahm Emanuel administration.
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“Right now, you have people who are declaring their candidacy for offices while already giving the word that they’re going to close schools,” Johnson said. “The same interests that shut down schools, the same interests that closed mental health clinics, the same interests that fired working people across this city — those same interests want to take us back to a time of trauma and torment and pain.”
He went on to attack those “interests” further, accusing them of supporting President Donald Trump’s tax cuts or having no plan to respond to his federal immigration campaign in Chicago last fall, before knocking unspecified politicians who are beholden to “the interest of corporations.”
“They used these positions to fatten the pockets of the ultra-rich,” Johnson said. “They are carrying on the same agenda of the Trump administration.”
One of Giannoulias’ top donors, asset manager and close Emanuel ally Michael Sacks, has become a lightning rod for Johnson and his left-leaning allies. As a former CTU organizer, Johnson came up in local politics fighting Emanuel’s education agenda that included the controversial closure of nearly 50 schools, the largest in Chicago’s history.
Giannoulias rolled out his campaign Sunday, seeking to preempt attacks against him for being too cozy with business by emphasizing his allies in the trade unions and progressive ideas such as citywide universal pre-K, an unspecified raised minimum wage and even a key tenant of Johnson’s own platform: higher taxes on the rich.
And he highlighted his office’s opposition to the current federal government, including spearheading legislation to outlaw book bans and sending a cease-and-desist letter to the federal government in December to prevent immigration agents from swapping license plates.
But Giannoulias also acknowledged in an interview with the Sun-Times that it was time to “make tough decisions” and explore the possibility of school closures.
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Standing on stage with CTU President Stacy Davis Gates on Monday, Johnson drew a clear line against that possibility. “The days of school closures, consolidation and privatization has ended, officially,” he said. “And to anyone, billionaire or not, that believes that you can take us back to a model of torment and torture, you got another thing coming.”
The Sustainable Community Schools model stems from a partnership with Chicago Public Schools and CTU in which community organizations provide wraparound academic, health and social support beyond the traditional school day. To expand the program further amid a budget crisis in the district, however, will require the politically difficult task of convincing state lawmakers to deliver $150 million in additional funding.
But Johnson remained optimistic in his Monday comments, saying questions about how Springfield could get there are for Gov. JB Pritzker — who has flatly said there is no money — to answer, not him. Should the state not come through, the school district risks deeper cuts or short-term borrowing.
Speaking during the announcement, Davis Gates sought to contrast the realities now with those during Emanuel’s two terms as mayor.
“I remember in 2013 when we begged for our schools not to be closed,” Davis Gates said. “I remember when there were lists with names of schools populated every single year, and this year there are names of schools populated to give them more.”