Chicago City Wire

Political strategist Delmarie Cobb says Paul Vallas (D) and Brandon Johnson (D) are set to battle for an available pool of voters who had previously supported Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) before her defeat at the Feb. 28 Chicago mayoral election.

“I think [Lightfoot voters] are probably going to be split,” Cobb said, according to WBEZ Chicago. “Unless she comes out and says, ‘I’m going to support Brandon or I’m going to support Vallas.’ I can’t imagine her supporting Vallas, though -- not if she really wants to protect whatever legacy she has to protect going forward.”

Lightfoot was ousted after one term in office, losing to Johnson and Vallas, who will now compete for more than 270,000 voters who voted for one of the nine other mayoral candidates in the primary, especially those who voted for Lightfoot.

Vallas, former Chicago Public Schools CEO, has emerged as the tough-on-crime candidate who, in his victory speech Tuesday night, promised to make Chicago “the safest city in America,” in part by bringing back retired police officers to boost department ranks. As such, he's received support from the Fraternal Order of Police.

Johnson, a former teacher and Cook County Commissioner who is backed by the Chicago Teachers Union, said he is against closing under-enrolled schools, saying the savings wouldn't lead to added value in education in the city. Vallas, on the other hand, said severely under-enrolled schools need to close, saying he would increase school choice for families and and utilize school buildings for other purposes.