As I predicted earlier, the voters of Chicago have decisively ousted incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot from office: In the all-party primary race for mayor, she finished behind Paul Vallas (who leads with roughly 35 percent of the vote) and Brandon Johnson (with 20 percent). Lightfoot’s miserable 16.5 percent of the vote is good for a humiliating third place and a ticket home.
I did not predict the strength of Johnson’s performance; he hoovered up votes that would otherwise have gone to Chuy Garcia and made a very impressive showing.
The matchup that has been set, however, fills me with fear for Chicago’s future. For once the voters are going to be offered a meaningful choice between a mainstream liberal Democrat (in Vallas) and a guy whose politics, promises, and affiliations threaten to turn Chicago into Portland-on-the-Great-Lakes (in Johnson). And given the politics of the city, it is frighteningly possible that the voters will choose Johnson in April.
Thankfully, a race between a moderate white liberal who embodies the establishment and an African-American DSA-endorsed activist running with the Chicago Teachers Union at his side at least promises not to be a racially polarizing campaign, so I can take some comfort in that.