CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — It’s a time-honored tradition in Chicago: Political candidates, after an election, greet people at Chicago Transit Authority stops.
On Thursday morning, Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson found himself a mayoral candidate in search of a hand to shake.
Turns out it was pretty quiet at 7 a.m. at the CTA Red Line stop at 95th Street and the Dan Ryan.
“It’s obviously very much clear that the city of Chicago would certainly benefit from new leadership, giving people a real opportunity to actually work,” Johnson said. “The people of Chicago have made it very clear that they want a better, stronger, safer Chicago and they want Chicago where the mayor loves them enough to invest in them, so that’s what I’m going to do.”
Asked whether this race will inevitably become about each candidate’s race, Johnson said he’s “grateful to have a multi-cultural movement that has propelled [him] into this moment.”
“This is really going to be between the politics of old, that have failed us, and the vision that we have brought,” the Cook County commissioner said.
Included in that vision was investing in youth employment, which Johnson reiterated is directly correlated to violence reduction. He also told members of the press that he plans to promote 200 more detectives “so that they can begin to work toward solving the violence in the city of Chicago.”
As Johnson spoke about his hopes to provide housing for what he described as “65,000-plus families” who are unhoused in Chicago, a passerby called out and said hello.
“Hey what’s up, y’all,” Johnson said. “Love you.”
There was a hand to shake.
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