Chicago mayoral race: Biden endorsement could set the tone for city’s future
Rachel Schilke
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President Joe Biden faces a difficult prospect about whether he should get involved in the 2023 Chicago mayoral race.
Chicago has proved to be pivotal for Democrats, and the president weighing in on the much-watched race with an endorsement could set a new course for the city. However, the candidates have varied approaches to addressing crime, a critical issue voters will be considering in the 2024 election.
Biden has been presenting a stronger tough-on-crime stance in recent months as Republican lawmakers and governors continue to blast Democrats for rising crime rates across major cities in the United States, including Chicago. He recently said he would sign a bill from Congress overturning Washington, D.C.’s criminal code that would lessen penalties for homicides and robberies, among other crimes.
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Now, voters in Chicago will decide between more liberal candidate Brandon Johnson and centrist candidate Paul Vallas, both of whom have separate approaches to tackling crime.
Biden has backed mayoral candidates in the past, endorsing Karen Bass for mayor of Los Angeles after she supported hiring more police officers and addressing the homelessness crisis in the city. He also has aligned himself with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who entered his position with a tough-on-crime message, which he continues to be a vessel for.
However, since both candidates in Chicago’s race are Democrats, it is unlikely for Biden to weigh in, following the trend of several other national leaders from Illinois.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), who endorsed Mayor Lori Lightfoot in 2019, as well as Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Gov. J.B. Pritzker, have not weighed in on the runoff race.
Vallas gained a key endorsement from former Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, long considered to be one of the most well-respected Democrats in Illinois, which could boost Vallas’s chances more than receiving support from national figures.
Democratic strategists say a lack of national support possibly stems from the fact that neither candidate is the party’s perfect choice.
“Most Democrats look at the two choices and in an extreme sense they are choices between a Republican and a socialist,” Pete Giangreco, a Democratic strategist and veteran of Illinois politics, told Politico. ”There’s not a Joe Biden mainstream Democrat running for mayor of Chicago.”
Whoever is selected could influence Biden’s political position in the future, setting a larger message for Democrats and how they plan to address rising crime. Chicago is also a finalist for the 2024 Democratic National Convention, which both Johnson and Vallas said they support.
Lightfoot’s campaign reached out to Biden and asked for his endorsement, a person close to the conversations told Politico.
Crime was the top contributing factor to Lightfoot being ousted, making her the first incumbent to lose the Chicago mayoral race since 1989. All candidates focused on solutions to crime during their campaigns.
Johnson drew on his experience in the west side of the city, where he experienced heightened crime and homelessness, to appeal to voters. He said he wants to improve public safety by including other aspects besides just increasing police presence in neighborhoods. He said he wants to take a “holistic” approach, focusing on mental health, jobs, affordable housing, and community engagement.
However, his opponents accused him of wanting to “defund” the police, a hot-button topic among more liberal-leaning politicians that has been a calling card for Republicans to blame crime on Democrats.
Joe Trippi, a Democratic strategist and an adviser to Vallas, said Johnson’s “defund” ideas will repel national Democrats from siding with him.
“You do have someone who has talked about defunding and I just don’t know why any national people would get into that debate,” he said.
On the other side, Vallas pitched himself as a candidate dedicated to law and order. He said, if elected, he would hire more police officers to patrol Chicago’s neighborhoods and recall all officers back to the force that left due to their frustration with the Lightfoot administration.
He frequently mentioned that morale among law enforcement hit a new low under Lightfoot, saying it was time to usher in a new era.
He’s been criticized for being too conservative to uphold his Democratic agenda and receiving support from the leader of the police union, the Fraternal Order of Police, who defended Jan. 6, 2021, insurrectionists at the U.S. Capitol and compared Lightfoot’s vaccine mandate for city workers to the Holocaust.
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Last week, Pritzker said both candidates will have to outline their policies to see who comes out on top.
“They’re going to have to articulate and direct their message,” Pritzker said last week. “What is their primary message? And [is it] going to be, you know, focused on what are they going to do about education? What are they going to do about healthcare? What are they going to do about public safety? What are they going to do about creating jobs? Those are all important things that I don’t think have been fully fleshed out by either one of those candidates.”