Chicago City Wire

Paul Vallas recently threw his hat into the Chicago mayoral race against Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who’s held the position for three years.

“When the people in power are too incompetent, combative or corrupt to tackle these challenges, that's how a great city can fall,” Vallas said in a YouTube video.

Democrat Vallas announced that he is running for mayor of the City of Chicago in a video posted to YouTube on May 31. Vallas highlighted several issues, including lead in drinking water, “sky-high property taxes,” Chicago Public Schools (CPS) not “putting students first” and “rampant” violent crime.

“Chicago is burning,” Vallas said, showing footage of a police vehicle in flames with “ACAB” (“all cops are bastards”) spray-painted on its side during the George Floyd riots of 2020, followed by footage of Lightfoot, Police Superintendent David Brown and Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx.

Ballotpedia reported that the last election Vallas ran in was in February 2019.

“When Chicago Public Schools faced bankruptcy, they called me, and I balanced multibillion-dollar budgets year after year,” he said in the video.

Vallas served as CEO of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) from 1995 to 2001, NBC reported. He then headed school districts in Philadelphia, Louisiana and Connecticut. Although Lightfoot has not yet announced a reelection campaign, she has hinted that one may be coming.

“During the coming months, I will continue to propose strategies to bring Chicago back from the brink,” Vallas said, according to the Block Club Chicago. “After all, I am a lifelong public servant obsessed with problem-solving.”

The election will take place on Feb. 28, 2023, according to an election guide.

The Chicago Tribune reported five are running in the upcoming Chicago mayoral race.

Ald. Raymond Lopez has announced that he is also running for mayor, NBC reported. Businessman Willie Wilson has announced that he will run for a third time.

ABC 7 Chicago reported Roderick Sawyer joined the race with plans to remove Chicago Fire Superintendent David Brown for someone similar to former superintendents Eddie Johnson or Phil Cline if elected.

The Chicago City Wire reported that Foxx dismissed all charges against 30% of felony defendants during her first three years in office. Foxx has dropped cases involving people accused of murder, shootings, sex crimes and drug offenses.

NBC Chicago reported Chicago hospitals ranked poorly by The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit watchdog organization.

Almost 400,000 drinking water lines in Chicago are contaminated with lead, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Lightfoot promised to replace hundreds of the lines, but in 2020, only replaced 20 of them. She has blamed former mayor Rahm Emmanuel for failing to replace the lines.