Politics
Mayoral Candidate Liam Stanton on ShotSpotter, Universal Childcare and Chicago Finances
Chicago is more than six months away from choosing its next mayor, but seven candidates have already announced campaigns.
Anyone hoping to get on the ballot can begin circulating petitions next week.
Entrepreneur Liam Stanton said he is running because Chicago is ready for a different perspective. The Rogers Park native’s “Hit the Gas” platform prioritizes making the city more affordable, safe and small business friendly.
Stanton joined “Chicago Tonight” to discuss public safety, property taxes and his plans to fix the city’s looming budget deficit. Here’s what he said about his campaign and what he would prioritize as mayor.
On his background as a small business owner:
Stanton is the founder of the Chicago Style Project, a neighborhood group that works to provide solutions to city issues to help make Chicago easier to live in.
“I’ve started and run small businesses, I’ve run large, global organizations and I think that that mixture of being rooted in our neighborhoods and having sort of the sense of urgency and creativity and executive management to run large businesses and organizations is really key for the city right now.”
On how he hopes to fix Chicago’s projected 2027 budget gap:
According to the city’s most recent budget forecast, released in August 2025, Chicago is facing a $1.16 billion deficit in 2027. And city officials last week said Chicago is currently grappling with an $89 million shortfall — revised down from the $130 million figure Mayor Brandon Johnson announced earlier this month.
“We need to have a collaborative process with our budget. We can’t get into a situation where the mayor and City Council have competing budgets every year. That’s not productive and it doesn’t improve lives for Chicagoans. We would look at: How do we first find savings? We look at procurement, we look at unused office space, we look at different things where we can find immediate savings in this budget, but do it in a collaborative way.”
On public safety:
Stanton’s public safety platform includes a call to bring back ShotSpotter, a gunshot detection system that was removed in September 2024 by Johnson. Since then, an analysis by the University of Chicago found that officers responded to 911 calls on the South and West sides faster than when the system was online.
“That study, I think, was completely flawed. It compared cold weather months with warm weather months when there’s typically more crime. It didn’t include actual shootings in that analysis. I think ultimately ShotSpotter and other technology should get resources to people that need them, when they need them.”
On universal childcare:
“I think through savings and other funds we can find pilot money for that. We can’t have this mindset of, ‘We can’t do anything new.’ We have to have the approach that we need to find the savings to fund new programs. So, I think that’s a good one to start with.”
On how he plans to foster positive relationships with Springfield, City Council:
“I think it’s time for a collaborative leader, someone who can come in and build relationships. I’ve got a lot of experience, I’ve spent my career doing that. So I think having relationships and investing in Springfield, investing with (City) Council, I think would go a long way these days.”
