During interviews Wednesday, Johnson (D) emphasized the need to bring the city together after an at-times bitter campaign that pitted his vision of community investment as a means of social change against Vallas’s more conservative and technocratic approach.
“What’s required in this moment is real collaboration. As I said last night, bringing people together is actually something I’m pretty good at,” Johnson said during a Wednesday appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “In this moment, that is how I’m going to lead.”
A top task for Johnson will be working with the Chicago Police Department on reducing crime — the issue that loomed largest in the election. Vallas drew heavy support from officers, who were rankled by Johnson’s past comments in support of the movement to defund the police. Many of Johnson’s supporters, however, embraced his approach over Vallas’s because they said it emphasized solutions other than adding police to restore public safety.
James Bryant, who celebrated at Johnson’s election-night party Tuesday, described himself as “ecstatic” over the win and said the city was long overdue for change.
“The police thing was my biggest issue. I was with Vallas until all that ‘blood in the streets’ stuff,” said the 67-year-old from the city’s West Side. It was a reference to the police union president predicting there would be “blood in the streets” if Johnson became mayor, and it was the kind of divisive talk that Bryant said turned him toward Johnson’s message of unity and working together. “I wanted to be on that side,” he said.
“Uniting this city is top of mind, and everyone gets to participate in that process to unite this city,” Johnson told NBC Chicago on Wednesday. He vowed to work with community members and the police on public safety solutions — and on the urgent business of selecting a new police superintendent.
Johnson’s balancing act on public safety is just one of several he must handle when he is sworn in May 15. He will replace Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D), who lost her bid for reelection after placing third in February’s vote.
Johnson will come into office at a time of tremendous possibility for his legislative agenda, thanks to his broad coalition of supporters, which includes powerful labor groups. But it is also a time of uncertainty. In addition to the concerns about crime, he faces a budget gap, shrinking public school enrollment, and pressure to help businesses and tourism rebound from a pandemic-era slump. He also has promised increased investments in infrastructure and services to residents on the city’s disadvantaged South and West sides.
Johnson also will face contract negotiations in the next few years with his former colleagues in the Chicago Teachers Union and with the Fraternal Order of Police.
A former teacher and union member, Johnson will come to the bargaining table with the teachers union next summer with the strongest relationship of any mayor before him. But as a former CTU member, he has already faced scrutiny over his independence from a group that helped make his victory possible and expectations from residents to avoid another teacher strike.
Johnson may encounter a rougher road with the police union. President John Catanzara, who did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday, has claimed officers would flee the department in droves rather than work for Johnson.
Delmarie Cobb, a longtime Chicago political strategist, praised Johnson’s victory but acknowledged the mayor-elect faces a high-wire act in the four years ahead.
“I’ll be watching closely to see if he fulfills his progressive values — because as we know, campaigning and governing are two different things,” Cobb said.
Unlike Lightfoot, who won her 2019 runoff election in a landslide, Johnson will take office on the slimmest margin of victory for any Chicago mayor in 40 years. He closed an 11-point gap with Vallas to overtake him in the runoff, with an estimated 51.4 percent of the vote to Vallas’s 48.6 percent.
“One of the biggest pluses for Brandon is that a majority of people in the council already have relationships [with Johnson] — whether good, bad or ugly,” said Alderwoman Jeanette Taylor, who represents the 20th Ward on the city’s South Side. Taylor has known Johnson for 20 years and would meet with him monthly — she as an alderwoman and he as a county commissioner — to share insights and support. She said Johnson’s lack of ego and his willingness to listen to others gives him an advantage over Lightfoot, who often moved unilaterally.
Both Taylor and Cobb, the political strategist, note that liberal and leftist wings of the council have expanded, which could provide crucial support for Johnson’s legislative agenda when it comes to controversial moves such as expanding hotel taxes or downtown head taxes to pay for things such as year-round youth employment and reopening community mental health centers.
“I think you’ve got a City Council that’s more independent, but also one where the council’s values are more aligned with his,” Cobb said.
