[VIDEO] WGN Anchor Ben Bradley goes on NewsNation's Rush Hour program to talk about the mayoral election. He is already predicting 30% voter turnout among those voters who have a vested interest in the system, the teacher's union. Crime is a big issue, however, they talk a little about the education system.
Brandon Johnson is a former teacher and an organizer for the teacher's union vs. Paul Vallas who former ran CPS in the 1990s under Mayor Daley. Could the teacher's union make a difference in the April 4th runoff?
At the start of this roundup looking at support among likely voters in the mayoral race we see where both Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas are at with voters. I can see Commissioner Johnson's standing beginning to rise, especially with the Black vote. And then the whole issue of Vallas saying things with regards to Gov. Pritzker managing the pandemic and what he says on right-wing talk shows that are starting to become issues.
Before Feb 28, 2023 election people were taking shots at him for being a Republican. What say you all once you check out the round-up at Capitol Fax.
That toddlin’ town roundup: Poll has Vallas’ Black support plummeting https://t.co/jBUdU3IMpB
[VIDEO] Another mayoral debate airing on WFLD-TV 32 aka FOX 32 Chicago between Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson and former CPS CEO Paul Vallas. About an hour debate which I hope you guys well let the public know who you think did the best in this debate.
I'm sure there will be react about it!
Early voting has been going on since March 20th and through to April 3, 2023. Election Day for the mayoral runoff will be on April 4, 2023.
[VIDEO] This most recent debate took place on WGN Tuesday night and I wanted to share this brief story about is from our local CBS affiliate. If I see a video of that whole debate that is embeddable I will share here.
Anyone has any thoughts on these runoff debates? In your opinion who won?
[VIDEO] I suppose this could be a question for both Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson for the 2023 runoff, what is their position on the CTA Red Line extension. What would they be able to do to make this future extension into Ward 9/Roseland a reality?
This was sent to those who joined Ald. Beale's email blast list. As you know earlier this past week Ald. Beale who recently won re-election to his city council seat endorsed Paul Vallas for Mayor in the April 4, 2023 runoff.
The rally for Vallas will take place at the
Pullman Community Center 10355 S. Woodlawn Ave Saturday, March 18, 2023 From 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM
[VIDEO] This debate aired last night and you can see it in full here. I hear it got spicy between candidates Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson. I didn't get a chance to watch it, but let's watch it together and decide who won this one.
I want to share this link from Capitol Fax this morning. Looking at polling numbers from the mayoral election late last month. Who predicted the runoff and who would be in it? How did especially Vallas and Johnson fare last month? What about Chuy Garcia how did he falter in his mayoral bid?
Also we see how "defund police" is faring amongst voters and we see it largely doesn't. I wonder if there is any data on "defund police" among Black voters.
The runoff is on April 4, 2023 and early voting begins on March 20, 2023.
I found it in a tweet today and then found this BlockClubChi article.
Chicago mayor candidate Paul Vallas @PaulVallas was endorsed by 9th Ward Ald. Anthony Beale. I count 24 current Chicago city council members endorsing for the Chicago mayor runoff election #chimayor23. Paul Vallas has 15 endorsements and Brandon Johnson has 9 endorsements. #twillpic.twitter.com/n7bv96F1X7
Let's get to BlockClubChi Ald. Beale's name is buried with other members of the City Council who also endorsed Vallas recently. It was in the news that State Rep. Kam Buckner endorsed the other candidate in the April 4 runoff, County Commissioner Brandon Johnson.
The Vallas campaign announced support from several South and West Side City Council members and former Illinois Senate President Emil Jones.
Alds. Michelle Harris (8th), Anthony Beale (9th), David Moore (17th), Derrick Curtis (18th) and Emma Mitts (37th) will endorse Vallas Thursday afternoon in Chatham, his campaign said in a news release.
The run-off is on April 4, 2023, however, early voting is scheduled to start on March 20, 2023.
[VIDEO] As I promised this debate is available to be seen on this blog for those of you who are looking for it and haven't yet watched this. Via CapFax is a react to last night's debate that aired on both NBC 5 & Telemundo and hosted by NBC 5 political reporter Mary Ann Ahern.
[VIDEO] This is very short notice so I do apologize for this. The debate airs tonight on NBC-5 hosted by political reporter Mary Ann Ahern. You can watch online via this link from NBCChicago. Wait it will be going on now as I post this as it begins at 6 PM this evening.
As you see on this brief report from WGN you see what's been going on since last week's election. You see Vallas picks up a great endorsement from his fellow mayoral challenger Willie Wilson. And then you see how much support Johnson has from the LGBTQ community, they question Paul Vallas' comittment to their community.
If there is a embed to share of tonight's debate it will be shared here. The runoff election will be on April 4, 2023. Early voting is scheduled to begin March 20, 2023.
If you have't early voted, tomorrow is the day to cast a vote for Mayor, Clerk, Treasurer, City Council, and those little known & new police district board council.
If you're looking for some last minute stories check out this round by via Capitol Fax.
So far I haven't received any flyers from Cameron Barnes - whom I could call a very young upstart in this race. However I have two from Cleopatra Draper and three from incumbent Alderman Anthony Beale.
Let's start with Draper. She's hitting the incumbent Alderman Beale over a lack of grocery stores in the area. And I'm sure Beale will note the new grocery store coming to the Altgeld Gardens area and then let's not forget about Walmart which has a grocery section.
[VIDEO] This forum was streamed on YouTube Saturday morning. You will see Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. speak to the audience although you mostly can't hear what he is saying in the beginning. You will also see the absence of Mayor Lightfoot though the other eight seven candidates for mayor were on the stage this morning.
CORRECTION 10:23 PM - another no show to this event was Willie Wilson.
And I must add Jesse Jackson retweeted this post. I had no idea he even uses twitter.
[VIDEO] This aired earlier this week two days before the recent FOX 32 forum on Thursday night. This quick clip is probably a taste of what you will see later on. The bickering between candidates especially the shots Willie Wilson took at the Mayor. One notable absense, Congressman Chuy Garcia had been in Washington, DC for President Joe Biden's state of the union address.
If you didn't see the WTTW forum check it out below. [VIDEO]
I'd say this is more significant in this mayoral race than Paul Vallas' positions on abortion or even whether or not he's a Republican as opposed to being a Democrat. As Rich Miller says in this morning's post on his blog, "Vallas has been registered to vote in Chicago since 2018. These candidate residency requirements are not difficult to skirt. But he has some more explaining to do."
I suppose the question is from what I have already read, he moved into an apartment in Bridgeport perhaps about a year before running for mayor. The story is that his residence is in Palos Heights, Illinois although his wife currently resides in Palos Heights to care for her parents and mother-in-law.
Come to think of it, after his service as a congressman and White House chief-of-staff in Washington, DC didn't Rahm Emanuel have to face questions about his residency. Although in his case the home he owned in the city was rented out so that was the story back then. Many tried to keep him from even being on the ballot because of this back then.
Did anyone check on this before Vallas turned in his petitions?
[VIDEO] There have been other mayoral forums this week which I have yet to share with you, however, this was the one that occurred on Thursday. All nine mayoral candidates including the incumbent Lori Lightfoot facing off against Mike Flannery and Scott Schneider. The duration is over an hour.
I must say there have been a number of mayoral forums which involve the incumbent. I feel as if that's a first, however, I'm starting to wonder if this shows how weak Mayor Lightfoot is. Did Rahm Emanuel face this much pressure in 2015 as he sought re-election?
[VIDEO] I wanted to share this ad you probably have seen somewhere - perhaps on TV or perhaps while watching YouTube. This ad touting Mayor Lori Lightfoot's accomplishments on policing and crime. I can believe that she has been taking a beating on the crime issue at least since 2020.
I like to save videos like this to a playlist, however, I can't save this one because this ad has been set to content made for kids. Interesting....
Then I found this article from April 2020 - at the time David Brown had just become police superintendent - via Block Club Chicago. I didn't know this, however, some detective areas had been closed down. In 2020 two of those areas that had been shut down had been re-opened.
That structure was slashed to three Areas — referred to as Areas North, South and Central — under Emanuel.
But Lightfoot revamped the former map, adding back Areas at 5101 S. Wentworth Ave. and 3151 W. Harrison Ave. All five of the old Areas return to their former names: Areas 1-5.
The three Police Areas were “too big” and weren’t “functionally working … as effectively as [they] could be,” Lightfoot said.
The restructuring had been in the works for months. The city rehabbed the two re-opened Area buildings that were closed and redrew their boundaries as part of the project.
With the changes, parts of the city hit hard by crime now no longer have to share resources and officers with as many other neighborhoods.
For example, the newly created Area 4 will focus solely on crime in the 10th, 11th and 15th police districts, which are in parts of the West Side that struggle with gun violence.
Now, detectives working out of the Police Areas will be closer to the neighborhoods where they work, which means it will be easier for them to work with witnesses and victims and they’ll be able to get to crime scenes quicker, Lightfoot said. She said it also means detectives will be able to collaborate more often with officers.
Anyone out there thinks this reorganization has been helpful?
Meanwhile almost three years later during the mayoral race, it seems the latest news about David Brown is that he is on the verge of leaving. Lightfoot running for re-election had pledged to keep Brown as Superintendent if she wins another term. Polls seem to suggest it's not likely that she will win another term, however, if she does time to start looking again for another police chief.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s reelection battle is clouded in uncertainty, her chances of beating either U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” GarcÃa or former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas in a run-off appearing slim — and her prospects for even making it to the April election up in the air.
With the election less than three weeks away, three out of five voters disapprove of the job the mayor has done in her first term, more than half hold an unfavorable opinion of her and 71% think the city is on the wrong track.
Those are among the key findings of a WBEZ/Chicago Sun-Times/Telemundo Chicago/NBC5 Poll conducted last week.
All falling within the poll’s margin of error, Lightfoot, GarcÃa and Vallas were essentially locked in a statistical dead heat when respondents were asked whom they would vote for if the Feb. 28 election were held today.
GarcÃa led with 20%, followed by Vallas with 18% and Lightfoot with 17%. Businessman Willie Wilson trailed closely with 12% and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson with 11%. Just 2% said they’d vote for activist Ja’Mal Green, and 1% chose either Ald. Sophia King, 4th Ward, or state Rep. Kam Buckner. Ald. Roderick Sawyer, 6th Ward, drew no support. Another 18% said they were still undecided.
I thought this was just going to be another article saying we need to cut the size of Chicago's city council. It goes deeper than that, the city does have home rule powers but never had a charter like other cities in America. Should Chicago have a city manager as opposed to the mayor being the city's CEO? Should there be At-Large Alderman which is utilized in places like Houston in this article? Are the staffs for Alderman too large compared to other American cities?
If you're an expert an urban policy or politics, this is an interesting piece to ponder about what solutions work for Chicago. What say you?
.png)
