(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – Chicago mayoral hopeful Paul Vallas sailed to an April 4 runoff Tuesday night against Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, according to tentative election results.
With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Vallas, a former Chicago schools CEO, led with 33.92 percent of the vote, followed by Johnson (20.33 percent); incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot (16.90 percent); and Congressman Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (13.80 percent). None of the other five candidates had broken double digits.
Lightfoot conceded the race around 8:45 p.m., saying she was proud of the race she had run.
On top of results coming in Tuesday, some 100,000 mail-in ballots were outstanding and could take days to count, election officials say.
Vallas served as an adviser to the Fraternal Order of Police during its negotiations with Lightfoot’s administration. He has called for adding hundreds of police officers to patrol the city, saying crime is out of control and morale among officers has sunk to a new low during Lightfoot’s tenure.
"We will have a safe Chicago," Vallas told supporters Tuesday night. "We will make Chicago the safest city in America."
Johnson, a former teacher, was endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union and was put forth as a progressive candidate.
Lightfoot in 2019 became the mayor of the third-largest U.S. city, and is only the second woman to hold the office. But Lightfoot, a former prosecutor and head of a city police review board, now risks becoming Chicago's first one-term mayor in 40 years.
The other candidates were Chicago City Council members Sophia King and Roderick Sawyer, businessman Willie Wilson, activist Ja’Mal Green and state Rep. Kambium “Kam” Buckner.
Contributing: Associated Press
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