The progressive politics that have dominated the Windy City for decades have arrived at an inflection point, with headline after headline heralding violence and government failure at every level. It even greets travelers stepping off airplanes, as the recent images of sprawling homeless encampments within O’Hare International Airport confirm. Mayor Lori Lightfoot is bracing for the very real possibility of a stinging voter rebuke, facing challenges both from moderate Democrats and candidates much further to her left.
The election could serve as a signal both in Chicago and to other major urban leaders that their citizens may be far more moderate than the politics they begrudgingly tolerate. The election of a Chicago centrist would mark a serious threat to the entrenched power structures currently coursing through big-city politics – especially the outsize influence of public-sector unions.
The biggest public-sector union is the teachers union, which has made no secret of its desire to run the entire city government.
Winners are selected not elected.
In NYC, Adams was the law & order candidate.