A pivotal Chicago mayoral race, just a week away, on February 28, is an off-cycle election, and voter turnout could be low, as nine Democratic candidates court their vote and face pressure to address public safety and crime. Candidates include incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Congressmember Chuy García, Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson and former Superintendent of Chicago Public Schools Paul Vallas, who is endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police. This comes as Republican Governor Ron DeSantis spoke Monday in Chicago in support of police. We discuss the race with Democracy Now! co-host Juan González in Chicago, along with Chuy García supporter Luis Gutiérrez, a former Democratic congressmember for Illinois and former member of the Chicago City Council, and Brandon Johnson supporter Barbara Ransby, a professor of Black studies, gender and women’s studies and history at the University of Illinois Chicago.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.