Politics
US Rep. Mike Quigley Announces Bid for Chicago Mayor, Targets Finances and Public Safety
Northwest Side congressman Mike Quigley is officially running for Chicago mayor.
The nine-term U.S. representative from Illinois’ 5th District launched his campaign Saturday at the historic but crumbling Uptown Theatre, using the landmark as a symbol of what he said is needed to restore Chicago’s promise.
“It’s tough to see the city you love so much struggle in the way that we are in Chicago,” Quigley said. “The fact of the matter is, Chicago has everything it needs to succeed — its location, its people, its cultural institutions, its universities, its neighborhoods — but it’s all resting on a crumbling financial foundation.”
Quigley joins a crowded field in the February 2027 mayoral election, becoming the fourth candidate to enter the race this month. Other candidates include Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, Cook County Board of Review Commissioner George Cardenas and former Chicago Housing Authority Board Chair Matt Brewer.
Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias and Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas are also expected to enter the race.
Quigley was first elected to Congress in a 2009 special election to replace Rahm Emanuel, who left to become former President Barack Obama’s White House chief of staff. Quigley serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and co-chairs the Congressional Ukraine Caucus.
Before joining Congress, Quigley served 11 years on the Cook County Board of Commissioners.
“As a county commissioner, I wrote detailed reports on how to restructure the county and how the local government can be more efficient,” Quigley said. “Those are the kind of reports that we need to put into place here if Chicago’s going to succeed.”
Like Mendoza and Cardenas, Quigley has made Chicago’s finances a central issue in his campaign. He said the city’s growing debt and pension obligations could leave Chicago facing insolvency by the time the next mayor takes office.
“The fact is, when those property tax bills were late, there was a real tough time making those monthly pension payments,” Quigley said. “So any blip in the economy and I’m very concerned that our pension funds, being so poor, aren’t going to be able to make the required payments. The city itself has a structural deficit that is only getting worse.”
Quigley said he wants to reduce spending, but will not make cuts to the Chicago Police Department, which, over the past five years, has overspent by hundreds of millions of dollars.
“I think the way to address public safety is to use programs like CRED, CeaseFire, the anti-violence programs that President Trump has cut,” Quigley said. “I do believe we need to spend more on those because they’re cost-effective.”
Instead, Quigley said he would reduce the city’s workforce to pre-pandemic levels by consolidating departments and implementing recommendations from a report presented to the Chicago City Council by consulting firm Ernst & Young last fall.
Quigley also said keeping the Chicago Bears in the city would not be a top priority, arguing that responsibility rests with the state legislature and Gov. JB Pritzker.
“It’s really hard to say that the Bears are a priority when we’re short of housing, and our schools are overcrowded in some areas,” Quigley said. “How can I tell people who want better schools, who want more police, who want other public services like shelter beds, that we’re gonna help the billionaires build a new stadium?”
Quigley is still running to retain his seat in Congress and will face Republican Tommy Hanson in November.
