The 2023 Chicago mayoral election was held on February 28, 2023, to elect the mayor of Chicago, Illinois. With no candidate receiving a majority of votes in the initial round of the election, a runoff election was held on April 4. This two-round election took place alongside other 2023 Chicago elections, including races for City Council, city clerk, city treasurer, and police district councils. The election was officially nonpartisan, with winner Brandon Johnson (a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners) being elected to a four-year term which began on May 15.
Incumbent Lori Lightfoot ran for a second term in office, but placed third in the first round. Former CEO of Chicago Public Schools Paul Vallas and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson advanced to a runoff. Other candidates eliminated in the first round included U.S. Representative Chuy Garcia and businessman Willie Wilson. Johnson defeated Vallas in the runoff, in what was considered an upset. This was the first Chicago mayoral election since adopting nonpartisan two-round system elections in which the candidate who won the most votes in the first round did not win the runoff.
The following speculated potential candidates did not run:
Lightfoot's administration faced criticism due to rising crime rates in Chicago and accusations of covering up police misconduct. During her term, she clashed with members of the Chicago City Council, the Chicago Teachers Union, and Illinois governor J. B. Pritzker's administration. The New York Times remarked that she had an "uncanny ability to make political enemies." However, Lightfoot received praise for her efforts to build affordable housing, repair dilapidated areas of the city, and raise the minimum wage.
A wide field of nine challengers qualified for the ballot. Polling of the race was largely inconsistent but indicated that Lightfoot was in danger of losing re-election and that the candidates with the best chance of making a runoff were Lightfoot, U.S. Representative Chuy GarcÃÂa, Cook County commissioner Brandon Johnson, former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas, and businessman Willie Wilson. Polling also showed that Garcia enjoyed heavy support from Latino voters, while a plurality of white voters backed Vallas and a plurality of black voters backed Lightfoot. Vallas and Wilson were considered more moderate than Lightfoot, with GarcÃÂa and Johnson being more progressive. However, many organizations in the coalition of labor unions and progressive groups that supported GarcÃÂa in his 2015 mayoral campaign instead backed Johnson in 2023.
Lightfoot faced controversy when she emailed public school teachers offering school credit for students who interned on her campaign and when she told South Side residents to either vote for her or not vote at all, while Vallas faced accusations that he lived outside the city. Lightfoot ran ads tying GarcÃÂa to Sam Bankman-Fried and Michael Madigan and accusing Johnson of wanting to reduce police budgets. She and GarcÃÂa also ran ads accusing Vallas of being an anti-abortion Democrat in name only. GarcÃÂa also questioned whether Johnson could be objective as mayor given his close relationship with the Chicago Teachers Union, while Johnson in turn accused GarcÃÂa of "abandoning the progressive movement" by adopting a more moderate policy platform in his 2023 campaign.
Several days before the election, Fran Spielman of the Chicago Sun-Times opined that polls demonstrated Paul Vallas to be the top front-runner, being likely to place either first or second in the initial round of voting and advance to a runoff, with Garcia, Johnson, and Lightfoot in contention for the second runoff spot.
Only showing polls by more-established polling sources: Bendixen & Amandi, GBAO, Impact Research, Lester & Associates, MasonâÂÂDixon, Ogden & Fry, Public Policy Polling, and Victory Research
Note: FiveThirtyEight rates pollsters with letter grades ranging from A+ to F, with A+ being the highest rating and F being the lowest (see more)
The Chicago Board of Elections claimed that early voting turnout in its 2023 municipal election was higher than early voting turnout in any previous Chicago municipal election. Vallas and Johnson advanced to the April runoff.
Only showing polls by more-established polling sources: BSP Research, Emerson, Lake Research Partners, MasonâÂÂDixon, Victory Research
Note: FiveThirtyEight rates pollsters with letter grades ranging from A+ to F, with A+ being the highest rating and F being the lowest (see more)
Endorsements in bold were made after the first round. <section begin="johnsonendorsements" />
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Official campaign websites