In a video posted early Thursday morning, García said he was running for mayor because “Chicagoans are calling out for help” after suffering though a pandemic and experiencing a “racial reckoning that underscored our painful history of inequity.”

Dian Palmer, the president of SEIU Local 73, said Johnson was the “progressive candidate who will unite a multiracial, working-class coalition to unify Chicago into a city that works for all people.”

Brandon Johnson vowed to address the structural inequity that pervades Chicago and fuels violent crime, calling high-performing schools, affordable housing and health care all violence prevention measures.

Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, 46, launched his campaign in Cabrini Green’s Seward Park, near Jenner Academy Elementary School where he began his teaching career.

Brandon Johnson, 46, has yet to formally announce that he will run for mayor of Chicago — but the backing of the Chicago Teachers Union will ensure that he will have ample resources if he does take on Lightfoot, who has long been at odds with the city’s most politically powerful labor union.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott are trading barbs over buses of migrants sent to Chicago. Our politics team weighs in on that story and more.

Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson announced Tuesday he is exploring a possible run for Chicago mayor, taking the first step toward confronting Mayor Lori Lightfoot with a serious challenge from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

Cook County officials are marking Small Business Week, which runs through Saturday, with the launch of a new initiative aimed at supporting small businesses as they recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“People in Cook County deserve leadership that won’t be afraid to ask that the wealthy pay their fair share,” says Brandon Johnson. Learn more about this candidate.

“We have the power to change the direction of our communities when we vote for people who have our best interests in mind,” writes Brandon Johnson. Learn more about this candidate.