Chicago City Wire

U.S. Rep. Jesus "Chuy" García (D-IL) has thrown his support behind Chicago mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson.

“It’s not a decision taken lightly,” García said at a recent news conference in Little Village, quoted by Block Club Chicago. “And I make it standing for the best interests of the progressive movement and without any other hesitation or reservation. The choice is clear.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot lost her reelection bid, and mayoral candidates Johnson and Paul Vallas will now face each other in an upcoming runoff election.

Garcia, who also ran in the mayoral primary, announced his endorsement of Johnson on March 17 in a press conference where he was flanked by political allies on the Southwest Side that included longtime civil rights and political activist Jesse Jackson.

Vallas had previously called out Johnson for wanting to defund the police. But Johnson argued that routing money for funding the police to the community would improve the community’s lives, adding that people are desperate and in dire living conditions.

“People are acting out of desperation,” Johnson told WGN in 2021. “You have to pay attention to cries people have.”

A fixture in the world of Chicago politics for more than four decades, Garcia received approximately 77,000 votes to finish fourth in his Feb. 28 primary bid to replace outgoing mayor Lightfoot. He entered the race last year as one of the frontrunners.

Johnson began his career as a teacher at Jenner Academy and then at Westinghouse College Prep. His website noted that he saw how school closures, unemployment and gun violence impacted students and their communities. Now a Cook County commissioner, Johnson faces Vallas in the April 4 runoff.

Vallas, the former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, came in first of nine candidates in the primary election, receiving 33% of the vote. Johnson followed with approximately 22%.