With just over one week to go until the 2023 Chicago municipal elections, some of the frontrunners in the race for mayor are facing intense criticism in the waning days. Political Reporter Mary Ann Ahern has more on all the latest headlines in the race.
With just over one week to go until the 2023 Chicago municipal elections, some of the frontrunners in the race for mayor are facing intense criticism in the waning days.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot is still under fire for comments she made Saturday when she said that South Siders voting against her were supporting Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García or Paul Vallas instead.
“Any vote coming out of the South Side for somebody not named Lightfoot is a vote for Chuy García or Paul Vallas,” she said. “If you want them controlling your fate and your destiny, then stay home. Then don’t vote.”
Virtually every other candidate in the race has blasted Lightfoot for the comments, and those criticisms only intensified on Monday.
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“This is voter suppression,” Ald. Roderick Sawyer said. “You’re telling people not to vote.”
“It’s part of why we need new leadership,” Ald. Sophia King added.
“The people of Chicago are far more brilliant than (this kind of) lazy, sloppy politics,” Brandon Johnson said.
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García called the comments “disqualifying,” while Willie Wilson called them “dangerous and disappointing.”
In a statement following the event, Lightfoot’s campaign says it is urging everyone to vote in the election because of its importance to the city’s future.
“The stakes of this election are high, and Chicagoans should take action to ensure we keep moving forward,” her campaign said.
Lightfoot isn’t the only frontrunner feeling the heat a week before Election Day. Vallas, the former Chicago Public Schools CEO who has found himself firmly entrenched among the highest-polling candidates in the race, is under intense scrutiny after the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, a group that endorsed him in the race, welcomed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to Illinois for a speech this week.
DeSantis, whom experts believe is likely testing the waters for a 2024 presidential run, has incurred the ire of Democrats throughout the U.S. due to his policies, which have included sending asylum seekers to places like Chicago and to Martha’s Vineyard.
“I think it’s reprehensible, because I think Gov. DeSantis stands in far contrast to the type of state that Illinois is,” García said.
Vallas dismissed the criticisms, saying that he is focused on Chicago issues.
“DeSantis is a diversion. I’m going to continue to focus on the issues,” he said. “I’m not paying attention to DeSantis or DeSantis supporters. The city is at a crossroads. We have a leadership crisis.”
Community activist Ja’Mal Green says that Vallas’ acceptance of the FOP endorsement was problematic on its own, especially considering the actions of the union’s president John Catanzara, who retired from the Chicago Police Department rather than face discipline over violating CPD rules, including controversial social media posts he made against the Black Lives Matter movement and in support of former President Donald Trump.
“He’s a bigot, a racist, and I don’t know why Paul Vallas would take his endorsement,” Green said.
The attacks are sure to intensify in coming days, as the nine-person field will likely be whittled down to two candidates after Tuesday’s election. The top two-vote getters will advance to an April 4 runoff, provided that no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the first round.
