With the 2023 Chicago mayoral runoff election just three days away, voters are looking to make their decision as former CPS CEO Paul Vallas and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson make their final pushes for public support.
Vallas hopes to succeed in his second bid for mayor, running for the office four years ago and finishing ninth out of 14 candidates with 5.43% of the vote.
The former CPS CEO emerged as the frontrunner to begin the runoff campaign, coming in first place in the first round with nearly a third of the vote.
Vallas performed particularly well on the city's Northwest and Southwest Sides, while also receiving significant support from Chicago's downtown neighborhoods and the immediate north lakefront.
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The runoff between Vallas and Johnson will take place on April 4.
Vallas served as CEO of Chicago Public Schools from 1995 to 2001, later taking on similar roles in Philadelphia, New Orleans and Bridgeport, Conn.
In recent years he has run for several offices, losing a bid to become Illinois' lieutenant governor when Pat Quinn was defeated by Bruce Rauner in 2014. He also finished a distant ninth in the 2019 Chicago mayoral race when Lightfoot defeated Toni Preckwinkle in a runoff.
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This time around, Vallas received a number of high-profile endorsements, including from the Chicago Tribune and Ald. Tom Tunney, but he also faced a huge amount of criticism, including for his acceptance of the endorsement of the Chicago chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, led by the controversial John Catanzara, a fervent supporter of former President Donald Trump and a long-time nemesis of Lightfoot.
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.
On the campaign trail, Vallas has centered his message around concerns over crime and public safety, while also emphasizing education as a signature issue, drawing on past experience.
Tying the two issues together, Vallas has advocated for using schools for extended day and year services, calling it a way to earn back lost instructional time while encouraging work with local community organizations.
Vallas has also shown support for high school work study programs as well as alternative schools and occupational training centers, according to his campaign website.
Notably, Vallas has advocated for converting "failing or under-enrolled" schools into open-enrollment magnet schools, a proposal that has attracted criticism from his runoff rival.
For his flagship issue of public safety, Vallas has supported replacing the leadership team of the Chicago Police Department while vowing to replenish the police force from approximately 11,700 officers to 13,500 officers.
The former CPS CEO has also proposed a city-operated witness protection program in an effort to increase homicide clearance rates, while allocating funds spent on private security for the CTA to hiring more police officers.
As part of the latter plan, a transit unit under Vallas would "ensure that every CTA station and platform has a police presence."
Extensive information on Vallas' platform can be found on his campaign website.
In the runoff campaign, Vallas has touted endorsements from former candidates Roderick Sawyer, Sophia King, Ja'Mal Green and Willie Wilson, in addition to support from Illinoisans with federal government experience such as Arne Duncan and Jesse White.
Vallas has also won the support of many members from City Council, winning over several aldermen who had voiced their support for either Lightfoot or Garcia in the election's first round.
A full list of endorsements for both Vallas and Johnson's campaign can be found here.
The former CPS CEO's campaign has not been without controversy.
Vallas dealt with accusations that his permanent address was in Palos Heights, but was eventually cleared by an Inspector General investigation.
Earlier in the runoff campaign, Vallas was also criticized after it was found that his Twitter account had liked tweets that “used racist language, supported controversial police tactics like ‘stop and frisk,’ or insulted the mayor in personal terms,” according to the Chicago Tribune.
Vallas denied liking those tweets, and argued that his account had been hacked.
The former CPS CEO has also faced criticism for comments Vallas made in recent years criticizing Barack Obama and J.B. Pritzker, with Johnson arguing that he is too closely aligned with the Republican Party.
Vallas has often rebuked by criticizing Johnson's position on public safety, labeling the Cook County Commissioner as a strong supporter of defunding the police, while recently launching attacks on Johnson for unpaid bills with the City of Chicago, which Johnson has since paid off.
While the two candidates have proven to show stark differences in ideology, they remain neck-and-neck in the polls, with most runoff polls showing the race within a statistical tie.
