The 2023 Chicago mayoral election was held on February 28, 2023, to elect the
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. With no candidate receiving a majority of votes in the initial round of the election, a
runoff election
The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...
was held on April 4. This two-round election took place alongside other
2023 Chicago elections
The 2023 Chicago elections took place in two rounds on February 28, 2023, and April 4, 2023. Elections were held for Mayor of Chicago, City Clerk of Chicago, City Treasurer of Chicago, all 50 members of the Chicago City Council, and 66 members of ...
, including races for
City Council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...
,
city clerk
A clerk (pronounced "clark" /klɑːk/ in British and Australian English) is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in ma ...
,
city treasurer The municipal treasurer is a position of responsibility for a municipality according to the locally prevailing laws.
The treasurer of a public agency is elected[police
The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...]
district councils. The election was officially
nonpartisan Nonpartisan or non-partisan may refer to:
__NOTOC__ General political concepts
* Nonpartisanship, also known as Nonpartisanism, co-operation without reference to political parties
* Non-partisan democracy, an election with no official recognition ...
, with winner
Brandon Johnson
Brandon Johnson (born March 27, 1976) is an American politician and educator who is currently serving as the 57th mayor of Chicago since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Johnson previously served on the C ...
being elected to a four-year term which began on May 15.
Incumbent
Lori Lightfoot
Lori Elaine Lightfoot (born August 4, 1962) is an American politician and attorney who was the mayor of Chicago#List of mayors, 56th mayor of Chicago from 2019 until 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she ...
ran for a second term in office, but placed third in the first round. Former
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization.
CEOs find roles in variou ...
of
Chicago Public Schools
Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the List of the largest school districts in the United States by enrollment, fourth-large ...
Paul Vallas
Paul Gust Vallas Sr. (; born June 10, 1953) is an American politician and former Superintendent (education), education superintendent. He served as the superintendent of the Bridgeport Public Schools in Connecticut and the Recovery School Distri ...
and
Cook County Commissioner
The Cook County Board of Commissioners is a legislative body made up of 17 commissioners who are elected by district, and a president who is elected county-wide, all for four-year terms. Cook County, which includes the City of Chicago, is the Unit ...
Brandon Johnson
Brandon Johnson (born March 27, 1976) is an American politician and educator who is currently serving as the 57th mayor of Chicago since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Johnson previously served on the C ...
advanced to a runoff. Other candidates eliminated in the first round included U.S. Representative
Chuy Garcia and businessman
Willie Wilson. Johnson defeated Vallas in the runoff, in what was considered an
upset. This was the first Chicago mayoral election since adopting nonpartisan
two-round system
The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...
elections in which the candidate who won the most votes in the first round did not win the runoff.
Candidates
Advanced to the runoff
Eliminated in the first round
Disqualified
* Frederick Collins,
Chicago Police Department
The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the primary law enforcement agency of the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, under the jurisdiction of the Chicago City Council. It is the second-largest Law enforcement in the United States#Local, ...
officer and candidate for mayor in
2015
2015 was designated by the United Nations as:
* International Year of Light
* International Year of Soil __TOC__
Events
January
* January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
* Johnny Logalbo, freelance counselor ''(ran a write-in campaign)''
[
]
Withdrew
* John Catanzara, president of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police
The National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) is a fraternal organization consisting of sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. It reports a membership of over 355,000 members organized in 2,100 local chapters (lodges), state lodge ...
''(endorsed Vallas)''
* Montelle Gaji
* Bradley Laborman, actor and realtor
* Raymond Lopez
Raymond is a male given name of Germanic origin. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund (disambiguation), Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as ...
, alderman
An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...
from the 15th ward since 2015 ''(ran for reelection, endorsed Wilson in first round and Vallas in runoff)''
Declined
The following speculated potential candidates did not run:
* Bill Conway, portfolio manager, former assistant Cook County
Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...
state's attorney, and candidate for Cook County state's attorney
The Cook County State's Attorney is the District attorney, chief prosecutor for Cook County, Illinois. The State's Attorney oversees the second-largest prosecutor's office in the United States, with over 600 attorneys and 1,200 employees. The off ...
in 2020
The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
''( ran for city council)''
* Stacy Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union
The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is a labor union that represents teachers, paraprofessionals, and clinicians in the Chicago public school system. The union has advocated for improved pay, benefits, and job security for its members, and it has ...
* Arne Duncan
Arne Starkey Duncan (born November 6, 1964) is an American educator and former professional basketball player who served as the 9th United States secretary of education from 2009 to 2015 and as Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Public Schools ...
, former U.S. secretary of education (2009–2016) and former chief executive officer of Chicago Public Schools (2001–2009) ''(endorsed Vallas)''
* La Shawn Ford, Illinois state representative
The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representative ...
from the 8th district (2007–present) and candidate for mayor in 2019
This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year.
Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
* Janice Jackson, former chief executive officer of Chicago Public Schools
* Mike Quigley
Michael Bruce Quigley ( ; born October 17, 1958) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since the April 7, 2009 special election. The district includes most of Chicago's North Side and several of its western suburbs. ...
, U.S. representative
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
from Illinois's 5th congressional district since 2009 ''(endorsed García)''[
* Pat Quinn, former ]governor of Illinois
The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its we ...
(2009–2015) ''(endorsed García in the first round, then endorsed Vallas in the runoff)''
* Jesse Sharkey, former president of the Chicago Teachers Union
The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is a labor union that represents teachers, paraprofessionals, and clinicians in the Chicago public school system. The union has advocated for improved pay, benefits, and job security for its members, and it has ...
* Tom Tunney
Thomas M. Tunney (born August 22, 1955) is an American politician and entrepreneur from Chicago, Illinois. From 2003 to 2023, he served as an alderman on the Chicago City Council. He represented the 44th Ward of the city, which includes major to ...
, alderman
An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...
from the 44th Ward (2003–2023) and vice-mayor (2019–2023) ''(endorsed Vallas)''
* Anna Valencia, Chicago City Clerk
The city clerk of Chicago is in charge of record-keeping for Chicago, including for its elections, permits, licenses, and laws. When the Chicago City Council is in session, the city clerk also serves as council secretary. The clerk is a citywide ...
since 2017 and candidate for Illinois secretary of state
The secretary of state of Illinois is one of the six elected executive state offices of the government of Illinois, and one of the 47 Secretary of State (U.S. state government), secretaries of state in the United States. The Illinois secretary of ...
in 2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
''( ran for reelection)''
First round
First round campaign
Lightfoot's administration faced criticism due to rising crime rates in Chicago and accusations of covering up police misconduct. During her term, she clashed with members of the Chicago City Council
The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the Law and government of Chicago, government of the Chicago, City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 Wards of the United States, wards to serve four-year t ...
, the Chicago Teachers Union
The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is a labor union that represents teachers, paraprofessionals, and clinicians in the Chicago public school system. The union has advocated for improved pay, benefits, and job security for its members, and it has ...
, and Illinois governor
The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois, and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by p ...
J. B. Pritzker
Jay Robert Pritzker (born January 19, 1965) is an American businessman and politician serving since 2019 as the 43rd governor of Illinois. A member of the wealthy Pritzker family that owns the Hyatt hotel chain, Pritzker has started several vent ...
's administration. ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' remarked that she had an "uncanny ability to make political enemies." However, Lightfoot received praise for her efforts to build affordable housing, repair dilapidated areas of the city, and raise the minimum wage.
A wide field of nine challengers qualified for the ballot. Polling of the race was largely inconsistent but indicated that Lightfoot was in danger of losing re-election and that the candidates with the best chance of making a runoff were Lightfoot, U.S. Representative Chuy García
Jesús G. "Chuy" García ( ; born April 12, 1956) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Illinois's Illinois's 4th congressional district, 4th district since 2019. A member of the ...
, Cook County
Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...
commissioner Brandon Johnson
Brandon Johnson (born March 27, 1976) is an American politician and educator who is currently serving as the 57th mayor of Chicago since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Johnson previously served on the C ...
, former Chicago Public Schools
Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the List of the largest school districts in the United States by enrollment, fourth-large ...
CEO Paul Vallas
Paul Gust Vallas Sr. (; born June 10, 1953) is an American politician and former Superintendent (education), education superintendent. He served as the superintendent of the Bridgeport Public Schools in Connecticut and the Recovery School Distri ...
, and businessman Willie Wilson. Polling also showed that Garcia enjoyed heavy support from Latino voters, while a plurality of white voters backed Vallas and a plurality of black voters backed Lightfoot. Vallas and Wilson were considered more moderate than Lightfoot, with García and Johnson being more progressive. However, many organizations in the coalition of labor unions and progressive groups that supported García in his 2015 mayoral campaign instead backed Johnson in 2023.
Lightfoot faced controversy when she emailed public school teachers offering school credit for students who interned on her campaign and when she told South Side residents to either vote for her or not vote at all, while Vallas faced accusations that he lived outside the city. Lightfoot ran ads tying García to Sam Bankman-Fried
Samuel Benjamin Bankman-Fried (born March 5, 1992), commonly known as SBF, is an American entrepreneur who was convicted of fraud and related crimes in November 2023. Bankman-Fried founded the FTX cryptocurrency exchange and was celebrated as a ...
and Michael Madigan
Michael Joseph Madigan (born April 19, 1942) is an American politician and convicted felon who is the former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was the longes ...
and accusing Johnson of wanting to reduce police budgets. She and García also ran ads accusing Vallas of being an anti-abortion Democrat in name only. García also questioned whether Johnson could be objective as mayor given his close relationship with the Chicago Teachers Union, while Johnson in turn accused García of "abandoning the progressive movement" by adopting a more moderate policy platform in his 2023 campaign.[
Several days before the election, Fran Spielman of the '']Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'' opined that polls demonstrated Paul Vallas to be the top front-runner
In politics, a front-runner (also spelled frontrunner or front runner) is a leader in an electoral race. While the front-runner in athletic events (the namesake of the political concept) is generally clear, a political front-runner, particularly i ...
, being likely to place either first or second in the initial round of voting and advance to a runoff, with Garcia, Johnson, and Lightfoot in contention for the second runoff spot.
First round polling
Only showing polls by more-established polling sources: Bendixen & Amandi, GBAO, Impact Research, Lester & Associates, Mason–Dixon, Ogden & Fry, Public Policy Polling, and Victory Research
Note: FiveThirtyEight
''FiveThirtyEight'', also rendered as ''538'', was an American website that focused on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging in the United States.
The website, which took its name from the number of electors in the U ...
rates pollsters with letter grade
Grading in education is the application of standardized measurements to evaluate different levels of student achievement in a course. Grades can be expressed as letters (usually A to F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), percentages, or as num ...
s ranging from A+ to F, with A+ being the highest rating and F being the lowest
see more
Aggregates of first round polls
First round endorsements
First round results
The Chicago Board of Elections claimed that early voting
Early voting, also called advance polling or pre-poll voting, is a convenience voting process by which voters in a public election can vote before a scheduled Election Day (politics), election day. Early voting can take place remotely, such as v ...
turnout in its 2023 municipal election was higher than early voting turnout in any previous Chicago municipal election. Vallas and Johnson advanced to the April runoff.
Runoff
Runoff polling
Only showing polls by more-established polling sources: BSP Research, Emerson, Lake Research Partners, Mason–Dixon, Victory Research
Note: FiveThirtyEight
''FiveThirtyEight'', also rendered as ''538'', was an American website that focused on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging in the United States.
The website, which took its name from the number of electors in the U ...
rates pollsters with letter grade
Grading in education is the application of standardized measurements to evaluate different levels of student achievement in a course. Grades can be expressed as letters (usually A to F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), percentages, or as num ...
s ranging from A+ to F, with A+ being the highest rating and F being the lowest
see more
Aggregates of runoff polls
Hypothetical runoff scenario polls
Runoff endorsements
Endorsements in bold were made after the first round.
Runoff results
See also
* Mayoral elections in Chicago
Chicago has held regularly-scheduled popular elections to select the city's Mayor of Chicago, mayor ever since it was incorporated as a city in 1837.
Chicago currently holds regularly-scheduled mayoral elections once every four years, in years p ...
Notes
References
External links
Official campaign websites
Brandon Johnson (D) for Mayor
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago mayoral election, 2023
Mayoral election
2023 Illinois elections
2023 United States mayoral elections
February 2023 in the United States
April 2023 in the United States
2023
Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...