The morning of July 28, the first day candidates could start collecting 12,500 signatures to get on February’s mayoral ballot, Mayor Brandon Johnson declined to answer reporters at City Hall about whether he would seek reelection.
“I just want to hold on to the city of Chicago a little bit longer,” Johnson told reporters, according to Politico, saying he’s focusing on governing rather than campaigning. “Once there’s an absolute decision that’s made … it’s Chicago, so the season changes dramatically.”
That afternoon, Austin Weekly News sat down with Johnson at City Hall. And while he still wouldn’t disclose whether or not he would run for mayor again, he did discuss Chicago’s political influence and his hopes for progressive Democrats.
When asked whether increasing support for progressive Democrats — demonstrated in Zohran Mamdani’s successful mayoral campaign in New York last year — will show up in Chicago’s mayoral election, Johnson seemed certain it would.
“New York is a reaction and response to what we’ve done in Chicago,” Johnson said. “Chicago is second to none, especially when it comes to progressive politics.”
Johnson outlined some key progressive politicians in Chicago, from Mayor Harold Washington through his own term as mayor.
He mentioned Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, who was elected as alderman of the 35th Ward in 2015 at age 26 — one of the youngest to join City Council in Chicago’s history. Now General Superintendent and CEO of the Chicago Park District, Ramirez-Rosa is a part of Democratic Socialists of America, as is Anthony Quezada, who succeeded Ramirez-Rosa as alderman of the 35th Ward last year.
“The progressive movement goes back to electing someone like Will Guzzardi, who took on someone who was a part of the machine on the northwest side of Chicago,” Johnson said of Guzzardi’s successful 2014 bid for state representative of the 39th District. Then 26 years old, Guzzardi beat Toni Berrios, who held the seat since 2003 and is the daughter of then-Cook County Democratic Party Chairman Joe Berrios.
“That’s the latest iteration of progressive leadership. I can go back to Cong. Danny Davis, who people forget was a Democratic socialist,” Johnson said. Davis is serving his last term as U.S. Congressman of Illinois’ 7th congressional district after nearly 30 years in the position.
“Bernie Sanders came to Chicago because he was inspired by Rev. [Jesse] Jackson, who ran on single-payer,” Johnson said of the universal healthcare system that was the cornerstone of Jackson’s 1988 presidential campaign.
“This is the place that Dr. [Martin Luther] King said that, if we can do it right in Chicago around fair housing, we can do it anywhere in the country,” Johnson said. “Dr. King looked to Chicago as the epicenter of how you bring transformation to our country.”
And Johnson said he is continuing the trend of progressive politicians with his own policies.
“I’m the first executive in the entire country to create a tax on social media. I think that’s a victory for progressive politics,” Johnson said. “Reopening mental and behavioral health clinics, that’s a win for progressive politics. That’s a win for working people on the West Side of Chicago.”
Progressive opposition
When asked where on the political spectrum Johnson sees the city’s strongest opposition, he answered that the same players who have opposed progressive politics during his seat have done so for decades.
“The opposition looks like corporate interests already donating dollars into individual coffers as a way to intimidate or to frighten people. …That opposition is no different than the opposition that worked overtime to close schools, shut down public housing, shut down mental health clinics,” Johnson said. “It’s the same individuals that want to hoard all the resources for themselves, then force working people — Black, Brown, white, Asian folks — to fight amongst ourselves with the scraps that they decide to leave over.”
He specifically mentions fear tactics against the real estate transfer tax.
On the March 2024 primary ballot, the failed Bring Chicago Home measure would’ve generated $100 million for the city to fund resources for unhoused people by placing a 2% tax on properties sold for $1 million to $1.5 million, a 3% tax on those sold for more than that, and reducing the transfer tax for properties sold under $1 million to 0.6%. Before the referendum made its way on the ballot, real estate and development groups filed a lawsuit against it in the Cook County Circuit Court, but the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners appealed the decision.
Johnson compares the pushback to Bring Chicago Home to that which John Stroger — the first African-American president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners — got in the 1990s as he attempted to increase the county’s real estate transfer tax. Then, Stroger also saw major opposition from home sellers and buyers. That backlash led to the state government passing a law that restricts real estate transfer tax increases without a voter-approved referendum.
Johnson said he also saw dark money opposition in Jan. 2024, when he was the deciding factor in a 23-23 City Council vote to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and release of hostages in the Israel-Hamas War — making Chicago the largest city nationally to adopt a ceasefire resolution. Following the vote, Common Ground Collective raised $10 million to counter Johnson and progressive politics, according to the Chicago Tribune.
“That opposition looks like the $10 million that was raised when I voted to break the tie, calling for a ceasefire [in Gaza] and there was immediate release of hostages, when I called it for what it was before any other major politician in the country spoke of it as genocidal,” Johnson said.
Despite those who work against progressive politics, Johnson said he’s proud of the work he’s accomplished during his term. He mentions last year’s success of the fewest homicides across Chicago in 60 years, plus a barrage of economic activity since he took office — including $780 million of city money funneled into over 800 projects on the West Side, marking $2 billion of total investment.
“I believe that our resistance and our resolve to build safe and affordable communities, and to move a progressive, pro-worker agenda is greater than any opposition that we’ve already experienced,” Johnson said. “It’s important that our communities see that we’re able to still deliver, even when we’re faced with opposition.”