Chicago City Wire

M3 Strategies recently released a poll finding Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is a long shot to re-win the job she’s held for the past two years.

The survey included 531 likely Chicago voters. Its margin of error is 4.25%.

The poll’s key findings include:

“• If the election were held today, Paul Vallas (26%) and Jesús "Chuy" García (19%) would make the runoff. However, 20% of voters are still undecided.

• Mayor Lightfoot comes in fourth place with 10%. This poll shows the Mayor's support slipping despite spending over $3 million last quarter. Our December 13th poll showed Mayor Lightfoot with 14.5%.

• Support for Jesús "Chuy" García has also dropped. He comes in at 19% in this poll, compared to 27.6% in our December poll.

• Paul Vallas saw his support grow to 26% in January, up from 19% in December.

• Commissioner Brandon Johnson is building support. He comes in third place in this poll with 12%, up from 3% in December.”

Vallas is the former CEO of Chicago Public Schools.

He has consistently criticized Lightfoot and State’s Attorney Kim Foxx over the rising crime rates in the City of Chicago.

He was aghast when three men allegedly responsible for paralyzing Chicago Police officer Dan Golden were not charged with attempted murder.

"So deliberately shooting/critically wounding a CPD Officer is not grounds for attempted murder in Kim Foxx's world? Those charges need to be amended immediately to attempted murder or Foxx should resign and have no bond," Vallas tweeted. "What an absolute disgrace!"

Jesus “Chuy” Garcia is Illinois' 4th Congressional District congressman. He was referenced in the public corruption case against former house speaker Michael Madigan who schemed to get one of Garcia’s political associates, Juan Ochoa, a lucrative job on the state utility board.

While Garcia is not named, his longtime affiliation with Madigan is well known.

“García’s name surfacing — even superficially — in one of the biggest political corruption investigations in Illinois history could make waves in the upcoming city election, where García is running as a progressive and is widely considered to be the strongest challenger in a crowded field seeking to unseat Mayor Lori Lightfoot,” the Chicago Tribune reported.

Columnist John Kass said Garcia would have been elected mayor in 2015 if then-mayor Rahm Emmanuel had not suppressed the video of Laquan McDonald being murdered by police.

“(B)efore the Rahm-Chuy mayoral campaign, if Chicago had seen the police shooting video, Rahm would not have been mayor. Simple as that. That’s why Rahm approved a $5 million settlement with Laquan McDonald’s family the Chicago Way. And the issue was suppressed through the Rahm-Chuy campaign,” Kass wrote in a December column.

“If the video hadn’t been suppressed, then Chuy Garcia would have been elected mayor.”

The election will be held on Feb. 28, 2023.