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Johnson, the city’s 37th mayor, a progressive who was elected by
51% of the vote to lead the city in 2023, launched his campaign
after the majority of the field after months spent hesitant to
tell reporters his plan to enter the 2027 field.
Johnson turned in 33,000 petition signatures at the board’s
Chicago Loop voting supersite almost an hour after initially
scheduled.
The incumbent mayor said he was confident in his chances,
despite recent polling conducted by NORC, a nonpartisan
organization at the University of Chicago, putting him at just
22% favorability.
“You are going to have politicians who dare to say that
everything that is going well, I have nothing to do with it, and
everything that is wrong, I somehow caused it. I didn't close
the school. I didn't close a mental health clinic. I didn't sell
off public assets. And crime is at an historic low. Here's what
I'm counting on,” Johnson said.
While filing paperwork, Johnson said he wasn’t going to take a
jab at his leading opponent, Secretary of State Alexi
Giannoulias, who is running for reelection on Nov. 3 and in the
early 2027 mayoral race simultaneously.
Giannoulias on Monday filed 60,000 signatures, nearly doubling
Johnson’s submission, which he said was already “more than
enough.”
Giannoulias has about $19 million in campaign funds, according
to recent filings, which is over seven times more than the
second-most funded candidate and almost 45 times more than
Johnson’s reported $379,000.
Johnson, a former Chicago Teachers' Union employee, isn't a
stranger to running against better-funded candidates though. The
then-county board member and CTU organizer was outspent by his
2023 opponent by nearly double throughout the cycle.
But not every proclaimed candidate has filed yet, including
local names like State Comptroller Susana Mendoza, who is
running on criticisms of the incumbent and calls for greater
public safety, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and Cook
County Board member George Cardenas.
Candidates who didn’t file this week have until 5 p.m. Monday to
bring their petitions to the board to make the Feb. 23 ballot.
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