The vote represents a reversal from March 30, when nearly two-thirds of the Chicago City Council voted to approve a declaration of independence — five days before Mayor Brandon Johnson defeated former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas in the runoff.
Chicago Election 2023
When Mayor Brandon Johnson picks up the mayor’s gavel for the first time, he will have been in office for just 10 days — and if he had a brief honeymoon, Wednesday’s meeting of the City Council will signal its end.
Former Ald. CarrieAustin is now receiving more than $9,500 per month in pension payments for the rest of her life, according to records obtained by WTTW News from the Municipal Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago. If Austin is convicted, she could lose her pension, since her conduct occurred as part of her official duties as an alderperson.
Capping an improbable rise and carrying the hopes of a political movement determined to remake Chicago as a more equitable place to live, Brandon Johnson was sworn into office Monday as Chicago’s 57th mayor.
Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson had just 41 days to put together his administration and lay the foundation to start delivering on his ambitious agenda — the shortest mayoral transition in Chicago history.
“We are going to reopen the mental health clinics,” Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson said in an interview with WTTW News, putting it first in a list of his top priorities.
Lori Lightfoot ends her historic term as the first Black woman and first out gay person to serve as Chicago’s mayor on Monday, leaving a fractured city still struggling to recover from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic that served to spotlight Chicago’s deeply entrenched problems.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot appeared to acknowledge that she ends her single term as mayor with work undone. At several points, she claimed credit not for accomplishments, but for “planting seeds” that will lead to the city's transformation into a more equitable place to live.
Lightfoot Watches in Silence as Departing City Council Members Laud Her, Each Other at Final Meeting
Mayor Lori Lightfoot declined to address the City Council at her last meeting as mayor, passing up the chance to begin shaping her legacy as the city’s leader during four of the most tumultuous years in Chicago history.
Ald. Ed Burke, 79, is likely to complete his 54 years as a City Council member without any of the pomp and circumstance that once would have greeted his departure from his beloved City Hall, which he ruled with an iron fist for decades.
Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson, who got his start as an aide to Senate President Don Harmon, traveled to Springfield to declare his election marks a “new day” in Illinois politics – and to serve notice that he would govern boldly as a progressive and supporter of organized labor.
According to Chicago Board of Elections data, there was a 32% increase from Feb. 28 to April 4 of votes cast by voters ages 18 to 24. Voters ages 25 to 34 increased their votership by 24%.
“Those who want to see our city divided, today this is a very clear day, an indication that those are the politics of old,” Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson said Friday.
There’s an effort to implement ranked choice voting in Illinois as early as the 2024 presidential primary. Proponents say ranked choice voting helps ensure representative outcomes; opponents say it’s confusing to voters.
The mayor-elect has just 41 days to set up his administration and prepare to tackle the myriad problems facing Chicago.
Chicago voters rejected efforts by moderate Democrats and Republicans to turn Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson’s support for criminal justice reform into a fatal liability.
