(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson on Tuesday won the Chicago mayoral runoff against former city budget director and schools chief Paul Vallas following a brutal race that was marked by rancor and divisiveness.
With 99.61 percent of precincts reporting, Johnson led with 51.42% of the vote (286,647 votes), compared with Vallas's margin of 48.58% (270,775 votes). Johnson had a cushion of nearly 16,000 votes, but election officials said more than 90,000 mail-in ballots were outstanding.
“For Chicagoans who did not vote for me, here’s what I want you to know: that I care about you, I value you and I want to hear from you. I want to work with you, and I'll be the mayor for you, too," Johnson told a roomful of supporters late Tuesday.
The former teacher was backed by the Chicago Teachers Union, whose president introduced him Tuesday.
Vallas, who was endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police, met with his own supporters around 9:45 p.m. to tell them he had called Johnson to concede. He urged people to lend their support to the mayor-elect.
Vallas and Johnson advanced to the runoff after finishing ahead of current Mayor Lori Lightfoot in a February election, making her the first incumbent in 40 years to seek reelection in the city and lose.
"It is time for all of us as Chicagoans, regardless of our zip code or neighborhood, our race or ethnicity, the creator we worship or who we love, to come together and recommit ourselves to uniting around our shared present and future," Lightfoot said in a prepared statement congratulating Johnson. "My entire team and I stand ready to collaborate throughout the transition period."
The Johnson-Vallas contest has centered on the increase in violent crime during the COVID-19 pandemic and soaring property taxes. With polls closed in the evening, Tuesday's results also could have implications for Democrats nationally ahead of other elections, including mayoral races in cities such as Philadelphia and Houston. For both progressives and the party's more moderate wing, the Chicago race is seen as a test of organizing power and messaging, especially with issues salient to big cities, like crime and alignment with law enforcement unions.
Vallas has repeatedly attacked Johnson for past comments in support of defunding police, which Johnson says he wouldn’t do as mayor. Still, Vallas — who wants to hire hundreds more officers — says the biggest quality dividing the candidates is experience.
Johnson had argued Vallas was too right-wing to lead Chicago. He noted some of his major donors have also supported Republicans, including Donald Trump, and that the controversial head of the police union has defended Jan. 6 insurrectionists. During a rally late last week with Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent and progressive standard-bearer, he described his opponent as part of the extremist right and other “greedy profiteers.”
Johnson said voters have ushered in a new chapter.
"There's more than enough for everybody in the City of Chicago," Johnson exclaimed.
(WBBM's Nancy Harty and The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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