2023 Chicago Mayoral/Aldermanic Elections

[warandwar]

Nice to see Vallas bagging an endorsement from a US Senator. I'll take what I can get.

There was an article out today in relation to this about Durbin and Pritzker feuding over influence and control over the state party  - now that Madigan is gone of course. So if this is cause of what Vallas pushed Pritzker to do, then maybe this pushes Pritzker to formally endorse and put resources behind Johnson.

If so, would be a great game of chicken. IFF Brandon wins, a last minute endorsement would really put Pritzker in the drivers seat

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Nice to see Vallas bagging an endorsement from a US Senator. I'll take what I can get.

There was an article out today in relation to this about Durbin and Pritzker feuding over influence and control over the state party  - now that Madigan is gone of course. So if this is cause of what Vallas pushed Pritzker to do, then maybe this pushes Pritzker to formally endorse and put resources behind Johnson.

Does this make it look that Vallas pushing against Pritzker was a mistake? By introducing new elements that could jeopardize his election?

[wbrocks67]

Really disappointed in Durbin, thought he was better than that. Vallas isn't just another conservative Dem who progs are calling a Republican. He's legit a Republican at this point. Why anyone from the Dem establishment in IL would support him is beyond me.

[Gracile]

Really disappointed in Durbin, thought he was better than that. Vallas isn't just another conservative Dem who progs are calling a Republican. He's legit a Republican at this point. Why anyone from the Dem establishment in IL would support him is beyond me.

Vallas was in charge of CPS, was the 2014 Lt. Governor nominee (hence Pat Quinn's endorsement), and has been a fixture in IL Democratic politics for many years. He's about as establishment as you can get in this field (not "legit a Republican"), so this endorsement from Durbin is unsurprising.

Many takes like yours in this thread show a poor understanding of Chicago/IL politics (and this is coming from someone who finds Vallas pretty abhorrent/supports Johnson).

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Really disappointed in Durbin, thought he was better than that. Vallas isn't just another conservative Dem who progs are calling a Republican. He's legit a Republican at this point. Why anyone from the Dem establishment in IL would support him is beyond me.

Vallas was in charge of CPS, was the 2014 Lt. Governor nominee (hence Pat Quinn's endorsement), and has been a fixture in IL Democratic politics for many years. He's about as establishment as you can get in this field (not "legit a Republican"), so this endorsement from Durbin is unsurprising.

Many takes like yours in this thread show a poor understanding of Chicago/IL politics (and this is coming from someone who finds Vallas pretty abhorrent/supports Johnson).

Do you think it is natural I am supportive of Vallas?

[Bismarck]

Really disappointed in Durbin, thought he was better than that. Vallas isn't just another conservative Dem who progs are calling a Republican. He's legit a Republican at this point. Why anyone from the Dem establishment in IL would support him is beyond me.

It blows my mind that someone who follows politics as much as we do here can still just swallow propaganda in that way.

[k120]

Johnson has the clear momentum. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a “silent” Vallas vote though. Being a Vallas voter might not be cool but I know a lot of north siders are concerned about crime.

Trust me, the north siders who are concerned about crime are not silent about it. Polls are showing Vallas with around 40-45%, which is already a pretty large chunk of the city. He'll probably get a bit more than that, but I'm willing to bet that he's pretty much at his ceiling now.

I don't think aldermanic endorsements matter very much at all.

This is correct. If aldermen were that influential, you'd think that Sophia King and Roderick Sawyer would've done better, at least in their own wards.

[wbrocks67]

Really disappointed in Durbin, thought he was better than that. Vallas isn't just another conservative Dem who progs are calling a Republican. He's legit a Republican at this point. Why anyone from the Dem establishment in IL would support him is beyond me.

It blows my mind that someone who follows politics as much as we do here can still just swallow propaganda in that way.

It's not propaganda? He's destroyed multiple cities public schools (I would know, I'm from Philly) and has gone on tirades against basically every major Dem player. This man is no Democrat.

[Attorney General & PPT Dwarven Dragon]

https://twitter.com/royalpratt/status/1639985844047032321?s=20

Probably the first time Durbin has ever endorsed a Republican LOL. And yeah, Vallas is one. It's just that he has to register as a Democrat to have a fighting chance in Chicago. Of course, as the best thing approaching a mainstream candidate in this race, Vallas has my support as well.

I'm not entirely sure how much sway Durbin has here though, being from downstate and all.

[sting in the rafters]

whoops accidentally leaked the results

[No War, but the War on Christmas]

Bernie is going to be having a rally /w Brandon Johnson this Thursday; and honestly out of most major national figures I think he has enough grassroots support to actually make a difference, especially with millennials who backed him in 16 and 20 and among left-leaning white people.

https://twitter.com/Brandon4Chicago/status/1640399698451218438?s=20
Either way, can't hurt.

[wbrocks67]

Emerson, so take it with a grain of salt after the last cycle.

Interesting that Vallas can't seem to push past 45-46% in all of these

https://twitter.com/tahmanbradley/status/1640457911456645120

[wbrocks67]

Also this is just incredibly depressing given Vallas's abhorrent record on education:

When asked who they trust more to handle education in Chicago, 48% of those polled picked Paul Vallas, 41% trust Brandon Johnson, and 11% trust both equally.   

https://wgntv.com/news/politics/wgn-poll-vallas-leading-johnson-in-chicago-mayoral-runoff-election/

[Mr. Illini]

Really disappointed in Durbin, thought he was better than that. Vallas isn't just another conservative Dem who progs are calling a Republican. He's legit a Republican at this point. Why anyone from the Dem establishment in IL would support him is beyond me.

It blows my mind that someone who follows politics as much as we do here can still just swallow propaganda in that way.

It's not propaganda? He's destroyed multiple cities public schools (I would know, I'm from Philly) and has gone on tirades against basically every major Dem player. This man is no Democrat.

Destroying a public school system means that someone is not a Democrat? There are a number of cities and towns that suggest otherwise.

[Roll Roons]

Also this is just incredibly depressing given Vallas's abhorrent record on education:

When asked who they trust more to handle education in Chicago, 48% of those polled picked Paul Vallas, 41% trust Brandon Johnson, and 11% trust both equally.   

https://wgntv.com/news/politics/wgn-poll-vallas-leading-johnson-in-chicago-mayoral-runoff-election/

Gee, why don't people trust the CTU-endorsed Johnson on education?

[wbrocks67]

Really disappointed in Durbin, thought he was better than that. Vallas isn't just another conservative Dem who progs are calling a Republican. He's legit a Republican at this point. Why anyone from the Dem establishment in IL would support him is beyond me.

It blows my mind that someone who follows politics as much as we do here can still just swallow propaganda in that way.

It's not propaganda? He's destroyed multiple cities public schools (I would know, I'm from Philly) and has gone on tirades against basically every major Dem player. This man is no Democrat.

Destroying a public school system means that someone is not a Democrat? There are a number of cities and towns that suggest otherwise.

You literally left out the other part, where he's disparaged basically every major Democrat, including the Obamas and Bidens.

[wbrocks67]

Also this is just incredibly depressing given Vallas's abhorrent record on education:

When asked who they trust more to handle education in Chicago, 48% of those polled picked Paul Vallas, 41% trust Brandon Johnson, and 11% trust both equally.   

https://wgntv.com/news/politics/wgn-poll-vallas-leading-johnson-in-chicago-mayoral-runoff-election/

Gee, why don't people trust the CTU-endorsed Johnson on education?

Are you dense? Do you really believe that every single person who is in the teachers union is represented by the one person behind that Twitter account? Seriously?

[Mr. Illini]

Also this is just incredibly depressing given Vallas's abhorrent record on education:

When asked who they trust more to handle education in Chicago, 48% of those polled picked Paul Vallas, 41% trust Brandon Johnson, and 11% trust both equally.   

https://wgntv.com/news/politics/wgn-poll-vallas-leading-johnson-in-chicago-mayoral-runoff-election/

Gee, why don't people trust the CTU-endorsed Johnson on education?

Are you dense? Do you really believe that every single person who is in the teachers union is represented by the one person behind that Twitter account? Seriously?

Tweets aside, the entire union walked off the job in 2022 to demand remote schooling be re-implemented. It was a travesty.

[OneJ]

https://twitter.com/daveweigel/status/1640751229755162630

[sting in the rafters]

The Vallas-is-a-Republican posters really need to reckon with the fact that the last two mayors before Lightfoot were Rahm, who pushed CTU to its first strike in a quarter-century, and M. Daley, who took control of CPS and replaced dozens of schools with charters (as part of his general project of stripping the copper out of city government). Vallas's record on education is what it is, but it's Chicago Democrats who have been the architects of privatization and charterization in Chicago schools (and Vallas who was hand-selected by M. Daley to organize much of that!). Haven't seen much to suggest Vallas would be too different from those two.

Feel that bro I’m just here for the memes and s#it. Appreciate the breakdown tho.

[wbrocks67]

The Vallas-is-a-Republican posters really need to reckon with the fact that the last two mayors before Lightfoot were Rahm, who pushed CTU to its first strike in a quarter-century, and M. Daley, who took control of CPS and replaced dozens of schools with charters (as part of his general project of stripping the copper out of city government). Vallas's record on education is what it is, but it's Chicago Democrats who have been the architects of privatization and charterization in Chicago schools (and Vallas who was hand-selected by M. Daley to organize much of that!). Haven't seen much to suggest Vallas would be too different from those two.

It sounds like both of them were awful too. Just because they claimed they were Democrats doesn't mean they actually did mainstream-Democrat things. Same with Vallas; what has he actually proposed that is mainstream Democrat at this point? Everything you see about him screams that he's *technically* a Democrat, but a very, very, very conservative one at that - and for a city like Chicago, that sounds terrible.

[Sestak]

The Vallas-is-a-Republican posters really need to reckon with the fact that the last two mayors before Lightfoot were Rahm, who pushed CTU to its first strike in a quarter-century, and M. Daley, who took control of CPS and replaced dozens of schools with charters (as part of his general project of stripping the copper out of city government). Vallas's record on education is what it is, but it's Chicago Democrats who have been the architects of privatization and charterization in Chicago schools (and Vallas who was hand-selected by M. Daley to organize much of that!). Haven't seen much to suggest Vallas would be too different from those two.

It sounds like both of them were awful too. Just because they claimed they were Democrats doesn't mean they actually did mainstream-Democrat things. Same with Vallas; what has he actually proposed that is mainstream Democrat at this point? Everything you see about him screams that he's *technically* a Democrat, but a very, very, very conservative one at that - and for a city like Chicago, that sounds terrible.

Sure, but for a city like Chicago, that’s also standard. It should not be surprising that establishment Democrats in the state are backing someone who - in their minds - is likely to govern the city in the same manner as Barack Obama’s ex-chief of staff.

[kwabbit]

The Vallas-is-a-Republican posters really need to reckon with the fact that the last two mayors before Lightfoot were Rahm, who pushed CTU to its first strike in a quarter-century, and M. Daley, who took control of CPS and replaced dozens of schools with charters (as part of his general project of stripping the copper out of city government). Vallas's record on education is what it is, but it's Chicago Democrats who have been the architects of privatization and charterization in Chicago schools (and Vallas who was hand-selected by M. Daley to organize much of that!). Haven't seen much to suggest Vallas would be too different from those two.

It sounds like both of them were awful too. Just because they claimed they were Democrats doesn't mean they actually did mainstream-Democrat things. Same with Vallas; what has he actually proposed that is mainstream Democrat at this point? Everything you see about him screams that he's *technically* a Democrat, but a very, very, very conservative one at that - and for a city like Chicago, that sounds terrible.

Rahm Emanuel has plenty of Democratic bona fides and was as mainstream as it gets. Being the mayor of a big city is probably the hardest elected job in politics and when facing a budget crisis every year something needs to be defunded or privatized or taxes need to be raised. It seems like most progressive policy in cities comes from the city council or the DA and I don't think that's a coincidence. As mayor you have to be the bad guy or outsource being the bad guy to people like Vallas as Daley did.

[Interlocutor is just not there yet]

Emerson, so take it with a grain of salt after the last cycle.

Interesting that Vallas can't seem to push past 45-46% in all of these

/tweet

Giving me big Caruso/Bass vibes from last year.

[Babeuf]

https://twitter.com/adimpact_pol/status/1641875030475948032?s=46&t=bAbNaO9Vg...

Big spending edge from Vallas and outside groups supporting him, as expected.