Voters head to the polls Tuesday to determine the new mayor of the nation's third-largest city in a highly anticipated runoff election.
after her loss; he turns 63 in October – the mandatory retirement age for Chicago police officers. Both Vallas and Johnson had previously said they would replace him.Vallas is a former schools executive who has positioned himself as a law-and-order candidate. He served as city budget director and CEO of Chicago Public Schools under then-Mayor Richard Daley and later led school systems in Philadelphia, New Orleans and Bridgeport, Connecticut.
He previously ran unsuccessfully for governor and lieutenant governor in Illinois, and he placed ninth in the 2019 mayoral election. Last year, he worked with Chicago's police union to negotiate the Chicago Police Department's contract., school choice and reforming the city's finances. Vallas has said he would hire nearly 2,000 more sworn officers and pledged to"return CPD to its core mission." in which he describes himself as"more of a Republican than a Democrat.
Vallas is endorsed by the city's police union, the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board, U.S. Sen. Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., former U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, former Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White and former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, among others.Johnson is a former teacher and union organizer who has campaigned as a progressive.