Incumbent Johnson, Giannoulias, others file petitions to run for Chicago mayor
(The Center Square) – Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson turned in the required signatures to the Chicago Board of Elections Friday for him to run for reelection, officially joining the crowded field of candidates in doing so.
Johnson, the city’s 37th mayor, a progressive who was elected by 51% of the vote to lead the city in 2023, launched his campaign after the majority of the field after months spent hesitant to tell reporters his plan to enter the 2027 field.
Johnson turned in 33,000 petition signatures at the board’s Chicago Loop voting supersite almost an hour after initially scheduled.
The incumbent mayor said he was confident in his chances, despite recent polling conducted by NORC, a nonpartisan organization at the University of Chicago, putting him at just 22% favorability.
“You are going to have politicians who dare to say that everything that is going well, I have nothing to do with it, and everything that is wrong, I somehow caused it. I didn’t close the school. I didn’t close a mental health clinic. I didn’t sell off public assets. And crime is at an historic low. Here’s what I’m counting on,” Johnson said.
While filing paperwork, Johnson said he wasn’t going to take a jab at his leading opponent, Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, who is running for reelection on Nov. 3 and in the early 2027 mayoral race simultaneously.
Giannoulias on Monday filed 60,000 signatures, nearly doubling Johnson’s submission, which he said was already “more than enough.”
Giannoulias has about $19 million in campaign funds, according to recent filings, which is over seven times more than the second-most funded candidate and almost 45 times more than Johnson’s reported $379,000.
Johnson, a former Chicago Teachers’ Union employee, isn’t a stranger to running against better-funded candidates though. The then-county board member and CTU organizer was outspent by his 2023 opponent by nearly double throughout the cycle.
But not every proclaimed candidate has filed yet, including local names like State Comptroller Susana Mendoza, who is running on criticisms of the incumbent and calls for greater public safety, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and Cook County Board member George Cardenas.
Candidates who didn’t file this week have until 5 p.m. Monday to bring their petitions to the board to make the Feb. 23 ballot.
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