Mayor Brandon Johnson hired activist and social media influencer Rachel Cohen as his administration’s communication director, he announced Friday.
The move signals Johnson will up his effort to reach Chicagoans on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok with his progressive message. In his announcement statement, the mayor pointed to Cohen’s over 700,000 followers across social media.
“The way people get their news and information is changing, and we have to meet Chicagoans where they are,” he wrote. “Rachel understands how to take complex issues and make them accessible, while bringing the work of this administration directly to people on every platform.”
Cohen, best known for making short videos sharing leftist political opinions and analysis, rose to internet fame last year after resigning from major Chicago-based law firm Skadden over its agreement to do $100 million in pro bono legal work with President Donald Trump’s administration.
She became a well-known objector to Trump’s Operation Midway Blitz immigration crackdown and a vocal supporter of leading progressive candidates across the country, such as New York Mayor Zoran Mamdani and Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed.
More recently, Cohen worked with Johnson’s political operation to share short videos bolstering the mayor, a collaboration she was not paid for, she said in an interview with the Tribune last month.
“I am honored to join Mayor Johnson’s administration, which has been working tirelessly to deliver progressive policy, and work with the team to ensure Chicagoans know how to take advantage of the many resources and programs Mayor Johnson has spearheaded,” she wrote in a statement.
Cohen succeeds Erin Connelly, who reinstated regular press briefings and oversaw substantial growth in the mayor’s social media reach during her two years as communications director.
The 32-year-old Cohen, a Harvard Law School graduate and one of Chicago magazine’s 2025 “Chicagoans of the Year,” has worked as a digital communications consultant for progressive candidates and nonprofits, but has not previously held a permanent role leading a communications office. In her own work, she has been a forceful political commentator while publishing hundreds of videos and articles on Substack over the last two years, often including legal analysis of Trump’s policies.
At times, her commentary has taken aim at political opponents of Johnson’s, including Michael Sacks, a billionaire financier and Democratic megadonor closely tied to former Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
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“If you live in Chicago, I need you to tap the (expletive) in, because it’s imperative that you know who this guy is, that you tell your friends,” Cohen said in one early-August video. “Michael Sacks wants to buy all of your elections, and he is going to do it while he pretends to be a progressive.”
Naturally, Cohen took to her social media accounts Friday morning to announce the news. She told followers she had turned away from other jobs, but believed she couldn’t pass up the City Hall gig.
“When I think about effectiveness, I think about where I can be the best at getting people to understand, engage with, believe in the possibility of progressive policy, and also get people plugged into their community,” she said.
She also said she would demonetize her personal social media accounts, post less and stop posting about the city’s electoral politics, and added she believes Johnson hasn’t gotten credit for his efforts to tax the rich, address crime’s root causes and expand affordable housing.
“I don’t think he’s been given his due,” she said. “He’s done all of these things, and they just haven’t quite broken through in the way that I think they should have with everyday Chicagoans.”