CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Cook County Cmsr. Brandon Johnson, a former Chicago teacher and a Chicago Teachers Union organizer, ran for mayor with the backing of the CTU, the American Federation of Teachers, Service Employees International Union locals and other labor groups.
He received millions of dollars and campaign volunteers — and he won.
For Johnson, it’s the beginning of a new challenge. For the CTU, it’s the culmination of four years of work.
In the 2019 mayoral race, the teachers union backed County Board President Toni Preckwinkle in a hard-fought campaign against eventual winner Lori Lightfoot. After a stormy relationship with Lightfoot, the union was determined not to repeat the mistakes of the past. The CTU used money and its ground troops to deliver the message to voters.
That message, built around progressive positions, attracted younger voters, while Paul Vallas’ campaign appealed to older voters — who vote consistently — with his message about crime.
Law professor Constance Mixon, who heads the Urban Studies program at Elmhurst University, said younger voters had low turnout in the general election. During WBBM’s runoff election coverage on Tuesday night, though, she all but predicted a Johnson win.
“In the February general election, there were only about 3% that turned out,” Mixon said. “I was hearing a report just a bit ago that it looks like young voters may increase that marginally … if young voters turned out, it’s enough to make a difference.”
They did, and it did make a difference.
Johnson won in predominantly Black and Latino wards — that was no surprise, as he performed well there in the February elections — but he won decisively. In some cases, he racked up margins of victory that were 3-to-1 or better.
In the 9th Ward, where Ald. Anthony Beale strongly backed Paul Vallas, Johnson took home a 4-to-1 margin of victory.
Vallas, on the other hand, generally had smaller victory margins in the wards he won, with the exception of Ald. Anthony Napolitano’s 41st Ward, where Vallas carried the race by about a 5-to-1 margin.
Still, Vallas did not win strongly enough, nor did he win in enough places, to win overall.
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