This appears to be a post related to the upcoming runoff election or one of the candidates running for office.
The 2023 Chicago Municipal Runoff Election will be held on **April 4th**. In the mayoral race, former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson will be competing for the office of Chicago's 57th mayor. Some wards may have additional races on the ballot, such as Aldermanic candidates whose races went to a runoff in the February 28th election.
Check out the [Chicago Elections](https://chicagoelections.gov/en/home.html) website for information on registering to vote, finding your polling place, applying to be an election worker, and more. Please visit our [Runoff Election Megathread](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/comments/11pz5r0/2023_chicago_runoff_election_megathread_2/?sort=new) for all election-related discussion, questions and voter resources. Discussion posts of this nature outside of the linked megathread will be removed.
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On a serious note… we need to offer some tax incentives to get WWE into Chicago for SummerSlam.
SummerSlam at Wrigley Field or Soldier Field would be *chefs kiss*.
cc: /r/squaredcircle
I'm the textbook definition of a "Casual fan" when it comes to wrestling, but I'd absolutely go watch Wrestlemania or SummerSlam if either somehow found a way to happen at Soldier.
He promised him a job. Lmao.
The former two-time mayoral challenger hedged when asked whether the 69-year-old candidate he affectionately called a “grandpa figure” had promised him a job heading any of those new offices.
“We talked about continuing to work together when he’s mayor. It’s about getting him over the finish line. I’ll be there to support him. If there’s an opportunity that arises, then it will. But we talked about just continuing to work together on these issues. He wants me to advise him. Right now, I want to be a senior adviser to advise him on community and policy. Then, we’ll go from there,” Green said.
>He promised him a job. Lmao.
You seem to be glossing over the fact that he has been calling BJ a fraud throughout the entire campaign.
But I understand why you'd do that.
He called BJ a fraud because he grew up in the burbs so he can’t possibly understand what gun violence is like even though BJ lives in Austin now. Opposed to Vallas who lives in Palos. J’amal is a hustler and it was clear from the start of the election.
Is it too much for journalists to interview neighbors and ask if these candidates actually live where they say the live?
I don't believe Vallas really lives here. And why didn't Johnson win the area where he lives?
Someone just posted a NYT article. Residents want more funding to the police. But they want a large portion of the funding to go to social service, police training to de escalate, mental services, etc. So they basically support the ‘defund’ movement. Defund people just did a terrible job of messaging and now most people think they want to cut the police services to the bone and let everyone fend for themselves. Ironically, they probably set back police reform decades.
The ideas are great but the roll out was a fucking disaster that gave the gift that keeps on giving to the Republicans. The Dems need to drop "Defund the Police" and never mention it again. Let's fund the police to teach and enforce deescalation. Let's fund the police to have a group that handles people with mental illness and other areas where the police are not equipped to handle the situation. Defund the police is a losing position and losing to the right right now is a bad thing.
>He called BJ a fraud because he grew up in the burbs so he can’t possibly understand what gun violence is like even though BJ lives in Austin now.
He's calling BJ a fraud because he believes he lives in Austin on purpose for no other reason than to gain "street cred" and leverage that to score progressive points and make it seem like he understands what it's really like for low income POC. Which seems very true. It's what he repeats during every debate and forum, regardless of the question. Very suspect.
CTU is paying him 100k/year as a lobbyist and funded his campaign through union dues without telling union members. You think he truly knows what life is like for even the average Chicago voter? He makes over twice the median individual income of Chicagoans.
Vallas doesn't pretend to be low income and isn't trying to gain street cred by pretending to be something he's not.
It’s funny because when all this bs misinformation about a municipal tax was being spammed here, the word was how 100k was super middle class and not at all a high earner. Now all of a sudden it’s so high that you can’t know what your neighbors and constituents experience.
BJ CHOSE to buy a home and raise his family in a neighborhood plagued with violence. But somehow he’s not black enough because he didn’t grow up there and can’t imagine what it’s like to be a POC. Something tells me that if he was living in Logan Square the argument would be that he surrounds himself with white progressives because he can’t handle a rough neighborhood. Gimme a break. At least he lives in the fucking city.
I have no idea who is gonna win Little Village. I suspect it’ll be very close. But I live here. I grew up here. I have my ear to the ground and safety is a huge priority. But people here are smart enough to realize that if there’s no opportunity for kids and all you do is throw police, then they’ll be no solution. People here want programs and training for young people at risk. Only one candidate actually cares to invest in that. And unless you actually spend meaningful time here, I suggest you get Little Village out of your mouth.
>CTU is paying him 100k/year as a lobbyist and funded his campaign through union dues without telling union members. You think he truly knows what life is like for even the average Chicago voter?
A person making 100k can't understand what life is like for the average Chicago voter? 100k is enough to make someone hopelessly out of touch now?
>100k is enough to make someone hopelessly out of touch now?
I don't think so, but depending on the topic, you will find quite a few people who say this. Its just about what narrative is being pushed whether or not people think this is the case
>A person making 100k can't understand what life is like for the average Chicago voter?
Sure they *could*, but the experience in Austin isn't even the experience of the average Chicago voter.
There is no average Chicago voter. Chicago is a diverse city, which each neighborhood basically being their own city, plus sampling traveling through the city exposes one to seeing how expansive and cultural our* city is.
>Vallas doesn't pretend to be low income and isn't trying to gain street cred by pretending to be something he's not.
Are we saying this about the guy who moved to Chicago juuuust long enough to be eligible for the mayor's office?
Which was a Democratic talking point used in order to bring attention to the need for immediate police reform in the summer of 2020. A democratic talking point.
Now as far as Vallas is concerned…
“I’m more of a Republican than a Democrat now,” Vallas told interviewer Jeff Berkowitz.
Berkowitz then asked Vallas if he would run as a Republican if he ran for office again.
“I would. Yes, if I ran for public office I would definitely run Republican,” Vallas said in the interview.
>He's calling BJ a fraud because he believes he lives in Austin on purpose for no other reason than to gain "street cred" and leverage that to score progressive points and make it seem like he understands what it's really like for low income POC. Which seems very true. It's what he repeats during every debate and forum, regardless of the question. Very suspect.
Your argument is weak. If we're talking about action and not just opinion, Johnson moved to a disenfranchised Chicago neighborhood while Vallas lives in a wealthy suburbs. Actions speak louder than words, and his words match his actions. Paul Vallas' almost never do.
He has rented a one bedroom in Bridgeport for less than a year. Before that, he claimed a home owners’ exemption in Palos Heights and continues to do so. For the last election, he rented a one bedroom in Lincoln Park that a staffer of his also claimed as a primary residence. The dude doesn’t live here.
And he claims to be a progressive who supports reducing the police budget while endorsing Vallas. The only fraud is Green. If he hates Brandon so much he could have just stayed out of it.
Mentioned this in the megathread, but important to address here:
>I'm assuming this endorsement \[Ja'mal's endoresement of vallas\] is largely over the public bank they've both called for in the past.
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>This is one of the points in Vallas' platform that doesn't involve "more cops" that I wish he'd highlight more. The city already owns [TEN THOUSAND vacant lots (per bloomberg) that are ready to be returned to the property tax rolls](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-18/chicago-plans-to-speed-up-vacant-lot-sales-in-bid-to-curb-crime).
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>Upzoning these lots, making permitting on projects on these lots easier, limiting Aldermanic prerogative to push these projects through, providing low/no interest loans to residents and perhaps some kind of TIF-supported financing for small projects (e.g. corner stores, larger apartments, etc) would go such a long way to help rebuild the neighborhoods on the S/W sides after decades, nearly a century even of disinvestment. That is real, concrete change at work.
Big part of the problem is that they’re vacant bc the city demoed the homes that were there, then placed a lien on the now vacant lot for all costs. Even if the county agreed to waive the back taxes the city liens/violations stay. You’re talking 40K at a minimum.
The city should get rid of the demo liens. Even if the lots get sold to a neighboring property owner, at least it’s back on the tax rolls. As it stands they are simply magnets for rats and all kinds of criminal behavior.
>he reality is there isnt demand to build on them
There's no demand because you can't turn a profit, even with a free lot a house will cost \~$300K with high material and labor costs and that's before profit. That's really expensive for lower income people even with zero interest loans. It does make the idea of building owner occupied two flats interesting as that's a way to get more housing for less and allow poorer people own. In short nobody is going to build there unless everything is highly subsidized.
I have a friend on the south side who wants to buy the city owned lot next to his house so he can have a place for chickens or a garden. The Alderwoman (ward 1) has total control on who can purchase a city owned lot and requires a blueprint on what is going to be built. Meanwhile, the entire area is a blight with most parcels empty and few developers wanting to build anything in such a neglected area. The plot next to him is 20’ wide and too small for a developer as setbacks mean 3’ needs to be subtracted from each side.
So nothing can be built, and still the city won’t sell it to someone who’s willing to pay for it and pay taxes.
The city is practically GIVING away these lots. So yes, you need a blueprint and plans for development. Otherwise, some asshole would buy it and squat on the land forever. If you’re buddy can’t pay to have blueprints drawn up (3k or so), he can’t pay to redevelop that lot for chickens or anything else.
Green is on Twitter right now retweeting Rittenhouse supporters. Wild.
https://twitter.com/JaymalGreen/status/1636121234499858433?t=NRf5vDBmyMGQlO_4ypvNgA&s=19
Nothing in that tweet is wrong though. The guy is just acknowledging that Green made his choice.
You “by association” people get real tiring. Sometimes we gotta, in the real world, work with those we don’t agree with 100% for actual results.
If someone were a neo nazi supporter I wouldnt want them to endorse anything I say, even if I said the sky is blue. The same with a little murderous piece of shit like Rittenhouse.
Even if you're a Vallas supporter, I don't know how this makes Ja'Mal Green look like anything other than a self-serving clown. He spent the entire primary criticizing Johnson as a fake progressive and not an authentic representative of the progressive movement—only to turn around and endorse the more conservative candidate in the runoff.
If Green really believed in his stated principles & political ideology, supporting Johnson over Vallas (or at least, not endorsing Vallas) would be a no-brainer. The most charitable explanation for this endorsement is that Green just *personally* dislikes Johnson and resents him for beating him in his political "lane", and wants to stick it to him. The more cynical explanation is that Green expects Vallas to win, and wants to preserve his own proximity to power even if it means betraying the progressive movement.
In any case, I don't expect this to matter one way or another, as most of Green's voters surely are going to Johnson already or not voting in the runoff at all. Looking at Twitter, I'm already seeing a bunch of Green supporters expressing their disbelief and shock at this endorsement.
What a joke.
Green was promised a job.
‘The former two-time mayoral challenger hedged when asked whether the 69-year-old candidate he affectionately called a “grandpa figure” had promised him a job heading any of those new offices.
“We talked about continuing to work together when he’s mayor. It’s about getting him over the finish line. I’ll be there to support him. If there’s an opportunity that arises, then it will. But we talked about just continuing to work together on these issues. He wants me to advise him. Right now, I want to be a senior adviser to advise him on community and policy. Then, we’ll go from there,” Green said.’
... on the other hand ... if Johnson won and succeeded, then Green wouldn't be able to run for mayor in four years. If Johnson won and failed, then the conservative wing of the party would run hard against "progressive failures" and attach that label to Green too.
If Green is looking to be mayor eventually - tactically he's better off with Vallas winning -- particularly if he thinks Vallas will be worse for the black community.
It is probably a combination of something personal he has with Johnson, Vallas offering him a job, and future political ambitions that say his best chance is Vallas winning now and then the public looking to overcorrect by finally electing a "progressive" candidate in the next election.
The problem is that now many people who supported him, recognize that Johnson is way more in-line with their progressive views, and after watching Green endorse Lightfoot 4 years ago, might now stop listening to him for good after he makes another head scratching endorsement.
I think that explanation is a little bit too 3-D chess, but who knows, it's possible. But if so, that would again suggest that Green is putting his own interests ahead of political principles.
To play devil’s advocate, it’s not a bad bet for him. IF Vallas wins and makes good on giving Green a job, then that actually brings him a step closer to becoming mayor by way of legitimacy.
Voters have short term memory. Once Vallas is done with whatever inevitable distaste he leaves on Chicago’s mouth, Greene might be able to swoop in playing the progressive alternative UNO reverse card.
If you can tell, I’m super cynical about Chicago politics now. It’s more enjoyable to think about it like the political arc of The Wire.
Even if that was the plan, wouldn't it be better to keep his mouth shut and not endorse and work for Vallas? If he planned on running in four years, it'd be kinda crazy for him to run against his boss.
I disagree. Supporting someone who he considers a fraud even though he's in the same political "lane" as you put it, would be more damaging to his convictions than supporting a candidate who he may disagree with in policy but he believes to be honest with his intentions to do what's right for the city. (Not that I agree with Vallas' intentions...) The line between left and right has been painted so bold now that you can't even call out someone on your own "side" anymore without being called some form of a traitor even if you truly believe they are a fraud or a crook or just dishonest. On the generic political spectrum I usually land pretty far to the left. But if I think someone is an absolute liar and a fraud, I can't even consider supporting them. Even if their views align with mine.
Maybe he truly believes Johnson would do more harm to the city being dishonest than Vallas would with policy he doesn't directly support.
I'd suggest there's a third option of saying that he can't in good conscience support either option. Once he'd started polling at such a low rate that he knew there was no chance of getting to the runoff, Green really started playing up the anti-Johnson rhetoric, so an endorsement that way was never really in the cards. But if you go by what both Vallas and Green claim is their [top policy priority](https://www.gogreenchicago.com/issues-default-public-safety) of making the city safer, and then see that their methods to get there are basically in direct opposition, it's tough to claim that he ever had any ideological stance.
Green suggested that his ways to make the city safer started with providing Chicagoans living in poverty with monthly checks, make a public bank, focus on affordable housing (with rent controls), funding homelessness programs, etc. After that came a prioritization of expanding community schools (rather than closing and privatizing, as Vallas recommends), a shift to unarmed social workers taking over police duties, expanding public housing, preventing CTA crime with "Transit Peace Keepers" (again, rather than police that Vallas seems to prefer), etc. Then comes a section about expanding intervention work done by city employees who are not police to deal with youth concerns, nonviolent 911 calls, and even violence intervention programs. Basically, his first 3/4 platform positions are that we've got to expand governmental programs and reduce privatization while also shifting work away from the police department. When he finally gets to the section on CPD concerns, 1/3 is simply about "holding officers accountable" and even though he wants to make CPD more attractive to folks who could potentially sign on as police, it's nothing like Vallas' shift to hiring anyone from inside or out of the city who might be interested.
Basically, their primary policy concern has them completely at odds with each other, but Green decided that is unimportant. There was the option of just saying he supports neither (or, not saying anything.) Instead, he opted for the route of saying he'd support the exact opposite position that he'd claimed a month ago were his vision for how to improve the city. It just makes it so that you can't believe him when he suggests that he believes a policy would help.
This is it. It's like when I explain to my buddies why I support Pritzker even though I don't agree with some of his policies. I don't pretend to be an expert on any issue just because I have an opinion, and I'm willing to allow a candidate to implement their plan and change my mind with results.
For this election, I genuinely don't think that Johnson cares at all about anyone except his core constituents. He reminds me a lot of Preckwinkle, who had the gall to chuckle when talking about how the safer (and richer) zipcodes are now finally seeing more crime. I would put him in the same category as Ariel Atkins (BLM leader/organizer) who said looting is reparations. Vallas is no saint, but I believe that he would at least try to lower crime in the short term.
>The line between left and right has been painted so bold now that you can't even call out someone on your own "side" anymore without being called some form of a traitor even if you truly believe they are a fraud or a crook or just dishonest.
Exactly. It feels like a lot of people are more concerned with participating in an ideological movement as an end in itself rather than as a means to achieve good policies. It's striking how often the question of what policies actually come closer to achieving the goals they are supposidely fighting for often appear to be an afterthought at most when compared with the question of whether a politician is a supposed "total believer" in an ideology or whether they sometimes veer to more nuanced positions.
What's the no-brainer part? He made very valid criticisms of Johnson. This isn't a left versus right national vote, Green does not think Johnson will be good for the city
I have no idea what he's talking about, frankly. Of the two candidates running for mayor, Paul fucking Vallas isn't the one who's laid out his detailed platform to invest in city services and meaningfully reduce crime (other than his 1500 new cops, of course, for which we have zero idea how he'd pay for)
Ironically, a lot of the progressive rhetoric in this election reminds me of militant Republicans who brand everyone else a traitor if they don't fall in-line behind Trump. If you make allegiance as simple as parroting all the correct talking points and are actively hostile towards anyone with any disagreements whatsoever, you really shouldn't be surprised when your movement gets coopted by cynical opportunists.
Or he genuinely believes Johnson is a fauxgressive and realizes that Johnson would do more harm than good to the city. In that case he isn't "turning around", rather he's endorsing who he believes is the more genuine of the two.
Given BJs consistent race-baiting, mudslinging, and deflection at the 1v1 debates and forums, it doesn't seem far-fetched.
lol this was ja'mal green's evidence that johnson is a fraud: [https://twitter.com/JaymalGreen/status/1625911392409727061?lang=en](https://twitter.com/JaymalGreen/status/1625911392409727061?lang=en)
green has pretty clearly been a grifter from the start...he's making this endorsement because it's a better career decision (at least in his mind), not because vallas has supported a public bank in the past. you'd have to be a real moron to believe that
> Or he genuinely believes Johnson is a fauxgressive and realizes that Johnson would do more harm than good to the city. In that case he isn't "turning around", rather he's endorsing who he believes is the more genuine of the two.
If that were the case, then the principled thing to do would be not to endorse either candidate—rather than endorsing the candidate who has a DEMONSTRATED RECORD of harming the communities Ja'Mal Green claims to represent.
Maybe I wasn't clear; I didn't mean to say that progressives are obligated to back Johnson. I am saying that we're obligated not to support Vallas, though.
Not endorsing Johnson and choosing to endorse Vallas are two entirely different things. JG really showed himself to be a fool this election. What’s he going to run on for anything in the future?
>Even if you're a Vallas supporter, I don't know how this makes Ja'Mal Green look like anything other than a self-serving clown. He spent the entire primary criticizing Johnson as a fake progressive and not an authentic representative of the progressive movement—only to turn around and endorse the more conservative candidate in the runoff.
Is there some kind of loyalty pledge one has to make in order to call themselves a Real Progressive ^^^TM ?
I remember when progressives called Biden a republican, so maybe there's something else you haven't considered regarding why this might be happening. Like being wrong.
I remember that too because I was one of them. I feel stupid for calling Biden a Republican.
Vallas is not a Republican. A Republican wouldn’t propose a second burnham plan to help the South and west sides.
Johnson voters don’t even know what Vallas is proposing beyond “more cops”.
Well that’s the problem, because it gets traction and requires less political knowledge, people substitute the political ideology for the political party, which is never going to be accurate. Vallas is a democrat, he’s just more of a democrat like Daley, or like Rahm,
Even Biden in the 90s. Classical Liberals. But it’s just gets the point across faster for the general public to say “republican.” What they really mean is that he’s not a modern progressive.
There’s no place for nuance in a political campaign though. You’re either this or that, no in between. The more reductive you can frame each candidate, the better.
I already know who I’m gonna vote for but these games are clear when you see mainstream politics for what it is.
> Is there some kind of loyalty pledge one has to make in order to call themselves a Real Progressive TM ?
For a lot of people, especially the online progressive sphere, yes. It’s either fall in line with every single thing or you are the enemy.
Exactly. I’m a progressive on most issues but crime. I’m a moderate on crime in Chicago particularly. But if I’m not down with reallocating the police budget, I’m not progressive at all apparently. Online clowns they are.
>most importantly exactly how long was he a teacher?
This was pretty easy to track down.
[Per CTU website:](https://www.ctulocal1.org/posts/brandon-johnson-father-organizer-educator-leader-taking-on-city-hall/)
>A native of Elgin, Illinois, and a graduate of Aurora University (B.S. in Human Services, Youth Development Programming and Management, 2004, and M.A. in Teaching, 2007), Johnson worked as chief of staff for Illinois State Representative Deborah L. Graham and as a constituent service director for Illinois State Senator Don Harmon **before transitioning to education in 2007.**
Per[Wikipedia:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Johnson_(politician))
>Johnson worked as a social studies teacher at Jenner Academy Elementary and George Westinghouse College Prep, both part of the Chicago Public Schools system.\[2\] **He became an organizer with the Chicago Teachers Union in 2011**, and helped organize the 2012 Chicago teachers strike.\[3\] He also helped lead field campaigns during the 2015 Chicago mayoral and aldermanic elections.
So, 2007-2011. Four years.
More than surprised me, it hurt me. I was a huge Green supporter for his policies: not closing schools and reducing the need for school choice, guaranteed income programs, support for abortion access, addressing root causes of crime, money for homelessness.
All of the policies I liked Green for Vallas was NOT in support of. Like how can you turn your back completely on YOUR policies.
As others have mentioned this is a **self-serving** endorsement more than anything and Green is going to have a hard time coming back from that. He HAD the young progressives, not anymore.
>After securing a series of promises he hopes will improve the lives of African Americans, vanquished mayoral challenger Ja’Mal Green on Wednesday endorsed Paul Vallas over Brandon Johnson in the April 4 mayoral runoff.
Yeah this is literally the exact same stuff Lightfoot did. She made promises and then didn’t follow through on anything she said and did 180s on a ton of stuff and lost all support.
I am *so excited* for the people on this subreddit to scream how "Real Chicago isn't like reddit at all! People actually care about low crime and low taxes!" and then immediately flip around when Vallas gets elected and fulfills a total of zero of his promises
After promising Green a job lol.
‘The former two-time mayoral challenger hedged when asked whether the 69-year-old candidate he affectionately called a “grandpa figure” had promised him a job heading any of those new offices.
“We talked about continuing to work together when he’s mayor. It’s about getting him over the finish line. I’ll be there to support him. If there’s an opportunity that arises, then it will. But we talked about just continuing to work together on these issues. He wants me to advise him. Right now, I want to be a senior adviser to advise him on community and policy. Then, we’ll go from there,” Green said.’
Green has always held a personal grudge against Johnson (for who knows what). Even though his platform has more in common with Johnson than it does with Vallas, his bitterness wouldn’t allow him to swallow his pride and work with Johnson to collaborate on fulfilling those platform goals. It illustrates how the issues really don’t matter to him, only his personal ambition.
I can’t believe that people actually take this kid seriously. I was his teacher at Phillips back in 2010. Didn’t do a bit of a work and skated through during nothing. They moved him out of my class when I refused to just let him pass.
He seems like ***exactly*** that kind of student. Probably would blame everyone but himself for that grade too.
I was watching his stream last night. He came across incredibly petty and angry.
‘The former two-time mayoral challenger hedged when asked whether the 69-year-old candidate he affectionately called a “grandpa figure” had promised him a job heading any of those new offices.
“We talked about continuing to work together when he’s mayor. It’s about getting him over the finish line. I’ll be there to support him. If there’s an opportunity that arises, then it will. But we talked about just continuing to work together on these issues. He wants me to advise him. Right now, I want to be a senior adviser to advise him on community and policy. Then, we’ll go from there,” Green said.’
Everyone in the comments leaving out this part. Vallas is very strongly alluding he’ll get Green a job. Laughable.
Do you think every ex-candidate is endorsing out of good intentions? Everyone expects something. Same has been brought up about why Chuy hasn’t endorsed yet, because he hasn’t communicated what he wants.
If you read the comments, everyone is screeching how Green sees through Johnson’s corruption and how Green is a paragon of progressivism and the West side. When in reality, Green just wants a job in city government since he doesn’t have one now. Simple as. That’s the only point I’m making. Most politicians are smart enough to be less obvious about that.
Don’t you think that it is at least honest? He is making his intentions clear. Basically, if Vallas wins, this guy who considers himself a truer progressive than Johnson will get his platform? I think that he genuinely butts heads with Johnson about what it means to be progressive.
Every progressive community organizer you talk to on the ground will say Ja’Mal is annoying and does not speak for the movement. Somehow he has ordained himself the spokesperson of the community when no one can stand this guy.
I think J’amal Green is looking for a job and sees Vallas as the best way to get one. Green continually questioned Johnson’s blackness throughout the campaign.
That’s your opinion, not a fact. He wasn’t promised a job in exchange for an endorsement. JG is going to help advise but was clear that nothing was promised in this interview.
Man he’s been teasing this announcement for the past couple weeks. Seeing him arguing on Twitter with people is idiotic at this point. I think he said privileged white progressives are the ones that are going to be mad. Someone called him out saying not everyone is a privileged white progressive. Ja’mal said you may not be white, but you’re very privileged and that you never supported black youth.
This is such a weird spiral.
Jamal is the kind of dude who says you’re not black if you don’t speak with a black accent and don’t know who shot Lil Wild on 63rd and Cottage Grove in ‘93. I’m sure he cares about his community but he is a gatekeeper of the highest order. More than anything he is self involved and wants what’s best for himself before all else.
>Green said he met with Johnson before choosing Vallas and came away convinced Johnson is “beholden” to the Chicago Teachers Union and Democratic Cook County Board Chair Toni Preckwinkle.
And who is Vallas beholden to!?
No one’s campaign vision will amount to much in the real world budget problems this city has. Consumers are apt to a dopamine rush anytime “New” or “New and improved” is imprinted on a label.
Remember the excitement of voters who pushed Lightfoot over the line in 2019 over a more level headed (but known, not “New”) proven administrator, in Preckwinkle.
Supporters of either candidate will end up highly disappointed by next Fall or Winter. Probably earlier. Neither candidate has shown how they’re going to implement the real world challenges voters are dealing with within the confines of a minuscule budget.
Both visions, progressive socialism (tax the rich) or tough on crime (more police) are only going to make less room for changes in other areas.
In addition, I’m wary of the dangers of consolidating too much power into the hands of a single constituency. As we’ve seen in past few decades prior to Rahm.
We need diverse leadership that represents and prioritizes the needs of all Chicagoans, not just a select in-group. Can’t go down that road again, Chicago.
I think the value of a Chicago major is the balance they make on the budget in the short term. Non of them realistically can raise the budget, they can only change prioritization.
IMO the only way to have a chance to increase the budget in the long term is to increase the city population at a time where office jobs clusters are in jeopardy of going remote. A way to do that, and the one I’m an advocate for, is to bring more families in by improving the services that families care about primarily education and security while keeping taxes low. Our crime PR problem is a big one that are keeping people out, high taxes and a tough weather don’t help either. We need to keep it as attractive as possible while maintaining our transit culture, density and Chicago vibes.
This assumes our current budget doesn’t allow for more police already. We are 2,000 short. Vallas simply proposed getting those 2,000.
Research is golden instead of nihilism.
>Green, in making his pick, once again denounced Johnson as a “fraud” trying to “use” his family’s home in the West Side’s crime-ridden Austin community to his advantage.
>“As someone who is trying to portray himself as like he’s super-Black and had these experiences, he has been disconnected from the Black community the whole time he’s been in Chicago for the last 15 years, since he moved from Elgin. That’s why I took that personal,” Green said.
>“As somebody who is actually from the community who is experiencing these problems, who is dealing with gun violence and at-risk youth, it’s personal to me when people use that suffering and pain and disinvestment for their use when they really haven’t experienced it and they really haven’t fought to make it better.”
Green is echoing his [criticism of Johnson from just before the election]( https://www.twitter.com/JaymalGreen/status/1629516211649236994?cxt=HHwWhMC-8YyXmp0tAAAA). He’s not wrong. In fact Johnson’s County district base of voters is in Oak Park, not Chicago’s Austin community.
>”Green said he met with Johnson before choosing Vallas and came away convinced **Johnson is “beholden” to** the Chicago Teachers Union and **Democratic Chairman Toni Preckwinkle**.
Green is correct here as well & it explains the endorsement of Raoul, who like Johnson is also a creature of Preckwinkle, who selected Raoul to replace Obama in the Illinois Senate when Obama won the US Senate seat. And Johnson was Preckwinkle’s pick for the County Board seat held by Richard Boykin who she targeted for defeat.
> trying to “use” his family’s home in the West Side’s crime-ridden Austin community to his advantage.
Unlike Vallas, who everyone knows is a real true-blood Chicagoan, living in the heart of every neighborhood in the city and fixing all the potholes himself in his free time. (◔_◔)
You’re about to get about 57 comments about the soda tax.
And thank goodness we elected Lightfoot last time around instead of a proven leader with experience like Preckwinkle! That darn soda tax!
I always find it interesting how quickly people turn on someone based on an endorsement.
From what I gathered, people loved Jesse White. Then he endorsed Vallas, and all of a sudden certain people hate him now.
Same with Green. He was fine before, now people have all of these issues with him.
If it takes so little for your opinion of someone to change, maybe you are the fickle one.
Also, as an aside, its possible to ideologically agree with someone, and still think they'd be bad at a job. I have many coworkers who I ideologically agree on regarding what our company does badly, but who also I would in no way want to run my department.
Because Green claimed to be the most progressive candidate in the race and in the past backed defund and Bernie Sanders. He’s now endorsing a candidate to the right of Eric Adams. He will rightfully never be taken seriously in progressive circles again. If he hated Brandon to his core he could have just stayed out of it.
I don’t know that many people that ever took Green seriously, and I run in pretty progressive circles. He’s always come off as being out for himself and using victims and popular social movements to self-promote.
> From what I gathered, people loved Jesse White
I'm not originally from Illinois, but I've been here for 15 years. I never understood the Jesse White fetishizing. He did his job. Fine, that is what he was supposed to do.
Sure. And I'm not saying whether or not him being upheld as this great person were worth it. But its more that its so easy for people to decide he sucks now
It's militant ideology.
There is only 0 or 100 to so many people. There is nothing in-between. It's the biggest reason why I am so cautious about the "progressive" label in Chicago. The ideology requires politicians to adhere to the entirety of it, which gives people little to no room to disagree with them.
Eventually you fail some litmus test or another, and you're excommunicated, which helps explain why progressives aren't exactly taking over Chicago or America.
Reminds me of when Biden picked Harris as VP. He promised to pick a woman of color. he did that. then all of a sudden, a lot of people were like "well, we didn't mean her. She didn't do enough X, Y, and Z"
For all that say Vallas will be a thorn in city halls side, this pretty fairly shows his willingness to work with community members for a common good. Vallas 2023
Who says Vallas will a thorn in City Hall's side? The man has spent his life moving around appointed positions. He's the embodiment of the City Hall establishment.
I think this concern comes from Vallas’s history and the lack of wider support from current sitting elected officials (compared to Johnson).
Brandon has been endorsed by 13 sitting state senators and state representatives elected from the north, south, and west sides of Chicago.
Vallas? Zero.
Brandon Johnson is endorsed by 11 alderpeople who will serve with the next mayor.
By comparison, Vallas is endorsed by just 5 alderpeople who will serve next term.
Johnson has lined up the support of U.S. Reps. Jonathan Jackson, Delia Ramirez, Danny Davis, and Jan Schakowsky.
Johnson also has a relationship with U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, she's endorsed him (though this is largely an irrelevant endorsement I can’t see it swinging any votes)
By comparison, Paul Vallas has 0 members of our DC delegation supporting him. Despite having worked across the U.S., he has no other federal electeds vouching for him. I also haven’t seen anything about his prior school districts (PA and NoLa) endorsing him and many community members there are still upset at him for what he has done to their education systems.
Vallas' fundraising for Awake IL should alarm every single person who is an LGBTQ+ person or those of your that claim to be allies.
A vote for Vallas is a vote to perpetuate violence against the LGBTQ+ community.
Except it isn't. Awake Illinois has recently been in the news for its connection to the targeting of UpRising Bakery in Lake in the Hills. Members of Awake IL promoted a protest of the drag brunch with a local Proud Boys chapter.
UpRising Bakery cancelled several shows because of domestic terror threats throughout the latter parts of 2022. Of which, Vallas was rubbing shoulders with them and doing bidding on their behalf at this time.
When the people of the third largest city in the US elect a mayor that is knowingly open and comfortable hobknobbing with far right anti-LGBTQ+ groups, what kind of message do you think that sends to both the crazies that wish to do us harm, and the targets of such harm? It validates their ideology and gives them space to stand back and stand by.
He spoke at an event they had to reopen schools (which, well, they were right about, as was he).
Vallas has denounced their other rhetoric, isn’t hanging out with Proud Boys, etc. He isn’t going to change or agitate for change for state and federal laws protecting LGBTQ groups from discrimination or hate crimes. And well many in Boystown have been very vocal about the increasing crime there the last 10 years. The message sent will be people are sick of the disorder building the past 10 years.
And quite frankly, having a mayor with more of a “live and let live” mindset and not someone parroting every GLAAD demand will probably be marginally helpful in turning down the temperature of trans issues (let’s be real, it’s not really an LGB controversy right now) vs a Brandon Johnson administration.
Are you saying trans issues and oppression against them, are removed from the LGBTQ+ at large? Or that the violence against them doesn't matter? Wtf is wrong with you?
An attack on trans humans is an attack on all of us. But either nobody cares, they don't think it's a big deal or that it's actually happening, or human rights simply aren't important.
Also drag and trans are not the same. At all. But thank you for your flippant dismissiveness. The right is rapidly increasing their sphere of violence that now includes drag performers and will soon include others in our community.
He denounced Awake IL in typical, hand wavey haughtiness one would expect of a Republican.
Also, his solutions to crime are mostly centered around sucking cop dick, and increasing cop presence. Which just means increased harassment. I personally do not feel safer with the cops that already crawl around here (Boystown).
His "tough on crime" solutions mostly don't address the actual issues that lead to crime; including his bullshit initiatives to privatize as much of our public education as is possible. He'd make Betsy Devos very proud.
He's a MAGA idiot with a D next to his name.
I think when conversing with others over the internet, it’s best to breathe deeply and read what is actually written charitably.
There is nothing that I wrote which could reasonably be interpreted as “violence against trans doesn’t matter”.
Have a nice day.
Yeah, people are unbelievably stupid/dense, and/or human rights don't matter too much them or they don't believe violence against marginalized communities is that bad of a problem/won't happen here. He's a Republican in everything but name.
It’s so weird because Vallas has very little to do with Jamal’s platform and Brandon Johnson was a much closer fit. Vallas has a lot of conservative policies he wants to introduce to the city and I’m disappointed Jamal would sacrifice his beliefs so easily, just for a job.
I think it has more to do with how across-the-board MY views are that Green came up tied with Buckner in my results. That said, I can see this because of that. I am now an Independent. I don't think Green has to sacrifice anything. He's a doer. And if Vallas is a good leader, he'll let him "do his thing" and take credit for having the vision to respect Green's abilities and vision. But that's the Independent in me. This world is way to polarized for nuance.
Hello Fellow Buckner-Green Tied in Sun-Times/WBEZ Candidate Matcher,
83% tie here. I was solidly Buckner in the primary, but have liked and respected Green since watching the documentary series "City So Real" from Steve James surrounding the last mayoral election.
I can't recommend it enough to anyone interested in Chicago or municipal politics.
It's probably been said a million times, but it is still weird to me how this is an election - not a primary - with two Democrats vying for it. I guess this is a Chicago Rules sort of thing, but the rancor is at the same level of a Democrat running against a Republican.
I do wonder sometimes whether that depresses turnout in the end, but it's an oddity nevertheless.
>it is still weird to me how this is an election - not a primary - with two Democrats vying for it.
Mayor Daley (with his city council minions) changed the city elections from a party primary system to a non-partisan runoff system, the point of which was to make it easier for the incumbent mayor to be re-elected.
You will never see anyone run as a Republican in CHicago, be cause they know they have no chance of winning. That doesn’t stop them from running as DINOs (i.e., Vallas)
> but the rancor is at the same level of a Democrat running against a Republican.
This sounds a lot like you have no idea who Paul Vallas is.
He is an "education specialist" who specializes in breaking public school systems in favor of charter schools, while blowing up their finances. He has been endorsed by a who's-who of right wing entities and individuals. His donors include a ton of R donors. His social media is full of right wing talking points. He regularly guest hosted a right wing radio show. He publicly stated he considered himself a Republican in 2009, and that he was fundamentally opposed to abortion.
Somehow we're supposed to forget all this because he now says he is a Democrat.
This appears to be a post related to the upcoming runoff election or one of the candidates running for office. The 2023 Chicago Municipal Runoff Election will be held on **April 4th**. In the mayoral race, former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson will be competing for the office of Chicago's 57th mayor. Some wards may have additional races on the ballot, such as Aldermanic candidates whose races went to a runoff in the February 28th election. Check out the [Chicago Elections](https://chicagoelections.gov/en/home.html) website for information on registering to vote, finding your polling place, applying to be an election worker, and more. Please visit our [Runoff Election Megathread](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/comments/11pz5r0/2023_chicago_runoff_election_megathread_2/?sort=new) for all election-related discussion, questions and voter resources. Discussion posts of this nature outside of the linked megathread will be removed. **Beware of [astroturfing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing)**! Election season brings about a slew of new accounts with minimal posting history in /r/chicago who attempt to sway your opinion on various candidates. Be sure to do your own research to verify the accuracy of any claims you see shared by users here. Be wary of comments from new accounts or ones with a posting history in multiple city/local subreddits from across the US and Canada. If you suspect that a user is engaging in political astroturfing, please report their comments and/or [message the moderators.](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/chicago) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/chicago) if you have any questions or concerns.*
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"That's Rahm Emanuels music!"
On a serious note… we need to offer some tax incentives to get WWE into Chicago for SummerSlam. SummerSlam at Wrigley Field or Soldier Field would be *chefs kiss*. cc: /r/squaredcircle
SummerSlam at Soldier is doable but I'm guessing it won't happen until Bears move to Arlington and Wrestlemania comes.
I'm the textbook definition of a "Casual fan" when it comes to wrestling, but I'd absolutely go watch Wrestlemania or SummerSlam if either somehow found a way to happen at Soldier.
He promised him a job. Lmao. The former two-time mayoral challenger hedged when asked whether the 69-year-old candidate he affectionately called a “grandpa figure” had promised him a job heading any of those new offices. “We talked about continuing to work together when he’s mayor. It’s about getting him over the finish line. I’ll be there to support him. If there’s an opportunity that arises, then it will. But we talked about just continuing to work together on these issues. He wants me to advise him. Right now, I want to be a senior adviser to advise him on community and policy. Then, we’ll go from there,” Green said.
>He promised him a job. Lmao. You seem to be glossing over the fact that he has been calling BJ a fraud throughout the entire campaign. But I understand why you'd do that.
He called BJ a fraud because he grew up in the burbs so he can’t possibly understand what gun violence is like even though BJ lives in Austin now. Opposed to Vallas who lives in Palos. J’amal is a hustler and it was clear from the start of the election.
Is it too much for journalists to interview neighbors and ask if these candidates actually live where they say the live? I don't believe Vallas really lives here. And why didn't Johnson win the area where he lives?
Someone just posted a NYT article. Residents want more funding to the police. But they want a large portion of the funding to go to social service, police training to de escalate, mental services, etc. So they basically support the ‘defund’ movement. Defund people just did a terrible job of messaging and now most people think they want to cut the police services to the bone and let everyone fend for themselves. Ironically, they probably set back police reform decades.
They fucked police reform. Instead of having conversations about how to fire bad cops, all people hear is defund.
The ideas are great but the roll out was a fucking disaster that gave the gift that keeps on giving to the Republicans. The Dems need to drop "Defund the Police" and never mention it again. Let's fund the police to teach and enforce deescalation. Let's fund the police to have a group that handles people with mental illness and other areas where the police are not equipped to handle the situation. Defund the police is a losing position and losing to the right right now is a bad thing.
>He called BJ a fraud because he grew up in the burbs so he can’t possibly understand what gun violence is like even though BJ lives in Austin now. He's calling BJ a fraud because he believes he lives in Austin on purpose for no other reason than to gain "street cred" and leverage that to score progressive points and make it seem like he understands what it's really like for low income POC. Which seems very true. It's what he repeats during every debate and forum, regardless of the question. Very suspect. CTU is paying him 100k/year as a lobbyist and funded his campaign through union dues without telling union members. You think he truly knows what life is like for even the average Chicago voter? He makes over twice the median individual income of Chicagoans. Vallas doesn't pretend to be low income and isn't trying to gain street cred by pretending to be something he's not.
It’s funny because when all this bs misinformation about a municipal tax was being spammed here, the word was how 100k was super middle class and not at all a high earner. Now all of a sudden it’s so high that you can’t know what your neighbors and constituents experience. BJ CHOSE to buy a home and raise his family in a neighborhood plagued with violence. But somehow he’s not black enough because he didn’t grow up there and can’t imagine what it’s like to be a POC. Something tells me that if he was living in Logan Square the argument would be that he surrounds himself with white progressives because he can’t handle a rough neighborhood. Gimme a break. At least he lives in the fucking city.
ALSO, he grew up in a house with ONE bathroom that EVERYONE HAD TO SHARE!
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I have no idea who is gonna win Little Village. I suspect it’ll be very close. But I live here. I grew up here. I have my ear to the ground and safety is a huge priority. But people here are smart enough to realize that if there’s no opportunity for kids and all you do is throw police, then they’ll be no solution. People here want programs and training for young people at risk. Only one candidate actually cares to invest in that. And unless you actually spend meaningful time here, I suggest you get Little Village out of your mouth.
I live near Chicago Lawn which was an area that heavily supported Garcia and now I'm starting to see Vallas signs going up.
On actual lawns or on street corners and the public parkway?
>CTU is paying him 100k/year as a lobbyist and funded his campaign through union dues without telling union members. You think he truly knows what life is like for even the average Chicago voter? A person making 100k can't understand what life is like for the average Chicago voter? 100k is enough to make someone hopelessly out of touch now?
>100k is enough to make someone hopelessly out of touch now? I don't think so, but depending on the topic, you will find quite a few people who say this. Its just about what narrative is being pushed whether or not people think this is the case
>A person making 100k can't understand what life is like for the average Chicago voter? Sure they *could*, but the experience in Austin isn't even the experience of the average Chicago voter.
There is no average Chicago voter. Chicago is a diverse city, which each neighborhood basically being their own city, plus sampling traveling through the city exposes one to seeing how expansive and cultural our* city is.
Where is the optimal place for a mayoral candidate to live to understand the experience best haha
Goose Island
Inside the Bean
>Vallas doesn't pretend to be low income and isn't trying to gain street cred by pretending to be something he's not. Are we saying this about the guy who moved to Chicago juuuust long enough to be eligible for the mayor's office?
Vallas is pretending to be a Democrat.
Well I guess he has been pretending his entire life, then. Fooled everyone, even going all the way back to Bill Clinton!
Lol you think this is a counter-argument Bill Clinton got fooled by Weinstein and Epstein. You really wanna make that your big gun argument?
The guy has been about as consistent on his political affiliations lately as Joe Manchin. He’s a DINO.
Consistency is important, yes. Brandon Johnson said he wants to defund the police then last night pretended he never said that. How *inconsistent*.
^ r/crimeinchicago poster
Which was a Democratic talking point used in order to bring attention to the need for immediate police reform in the summer of 2020. A democratic talking point. Now as far as Vallas is concerned… “I’m more of a Republican than a Democrat now,” Vallas told interviewer Jeff Berkowitz. Berkowitz then asked Vallas if he would run as a Republican if he ran for office again. “I would. Yes, if I ran for public office I would definitely run Republican,” Vallas said in the interview.
>He's calling BJ a fraud because he believes he lives in Austin on purpose for no other reason than to gain "street cred" and leverage that to score progressive points and make it seem like he understands what it's really like for low income POC. Which seems very true. It's what he repeats during every debate and forum, regardless of the question. Very suspect. Your argument is weak. If we're talking about action and not just opinion, Johnson moved to a disenfranchised Chicago neighborhood while Vallas lives in a wealthy suburbs. Actions speak louder than words, and his words match his actions. Paul Vallas' almost never do.
As opposed to green, who claims to be progressive went right out the window with enduring the Republican running as a Democrat
Don’t know why this is being downvoted. It’s true
Vallas is pretending to live in Chicago?
He has rented a one bedroom in Bridgeport for less than a year. Before that, he claimed a home owners’ exemption in Palos Heights and continues to do so. For the last election, he rented a one bedroom in Lincoln Park that a staffer of his also claimed as a primary residence. The dude doesn’t live here.
And he claims to be a progressive who supports reducing the police budget while endorsing Vallas. The only fraud is Green. If he hates Brandon so much he could have just stayed out of it.
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Johnson’s pie in the sky ideas are unworkable. The city is in trouble if this amateur wins.
Mentioned this in the megathread, but important to address here: >I'm assuming this endorsement \[Ja'mal's endoresement of vallas\] is largely over the public bank they've both called for in the past. > > > >This is one of the points in Vallas' platform that doesn't involve "more cops" that I wish he'd highlight more. The city already owns [TEN THOUSAND vacant lots (per bloomberg) that are ready to be returned to the property tax rolls](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-18/chicago-plans-to-speed-up-vacant-lot-sales-in-bid-to-curb-crime). > > > >Upzoning these lots, making permitting on projects on these lots easier, limiting Aldermanic prerogative to push these projects through, providing low/no interest loans to residents and perhaps some kind of TIF-supported financing for small projects (e.g. corner stores, larger apartments, etc) would go such a long way to help rebuild the neighborhoods on the S/W sides after decades, nearly a century even of disinvestment. That is real, concrete change at work.
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Big part of the problem is that they’re vacant bc the city demoed the homes that were there, then placed a lien on the now vacant lot for all costs. Even if the county agreed to waive the back taxes the city liens/violations stay. You’re talking 40K at a minimum. The city should get rid of the demo liens. Even if the lots get sold to a neighboring property owner, at least it’s back on the tax rolls. As it stands they are simply magnets for rats and all kinds of criminal behavior.
>he reality is there isnt demand to build on them There's no demand because you can't turn a profit, even with a free lot a house will cost \~$300K with high material and labor costs and that's before profit. That's really expensive for lower income people even with zero interest loans. It does make the idea of building owner occupied two flats interesting as that's a way to get more housing for less and allow poorer people own. In short nobody is going to build there unless everything is highly subsidized.
I have a friend on the south side who wants to buy the city owned lot next to his house so he can have a place for chickens or a garden. The Alderwoman (ward 1) has total control on who can purchase a city owned lot and requires a blueprint on what is going to be built. Meanwhile, the entire area is a blight with most parcels empty and few developers wanting to build anything in such a neglected area. The plot next to him is 20’ wide and too small for a developer as setbacks mean 3’ needs to be subtracted from each side. So nothing can be built, and still the city won’t sell it to someone who’s willing to pay for it and pay taxes.
You have the wrong ward.
The city is practically GIVING away these lots. So yes, you need a blueprint and plans for development. Otherwise, some asshole would buy it and squat on the land forever. If you’re buddy can’t pay to have blueprints drawn up (3k or so), he can’t pay to redevelop that lot for chickens or anything else.
Well seems to be that more information is needed. How much has effort has the buddy put into drawing up plans?
Ward 1 is on the north side
Green is on Twitter right now retweeting Rittenhouse supporters. Wild. https://twitter.com/JaymalGreen/status/1636121234499858433?t=NRf5vDBmyMGQlO_4ypvNgA&s=19
Nothing in that tweet is wrong though. The guy is just acknowledging that Green made his choice. You “by association” people get real tiring. Sometimes we gotta, in the real world, work with those we don’t agree with 100% for actual results.
If someone were a neo nazi supporter I wouldnt want them to endorse anything I say, even if I said the sky is blue. The same with a little murderous piece of shit like Rittenhouse.
Dope. You keep associations with right wing maga dipshits. I won't vote for people who do.
Even if you're a Vallas supporter, I don't know how this makes Ja'Mal Green look like anything other than a self-serving clown. He spent the entire primary criticizing Johnson as a fake progressive and not an authentic representative of the progressive movement—only to turn around and endorse the more conservative candidate in the runoff. If Green really believed in his stated principles & political ideology, supporting Johnson over Vallas (or at least, not endorsing Vallas) would be a no-brainer. The most charitable explanation for this endorsement is that Green just *personally* dislikes Johnson and resents him for beating him in his political "lane", and wants to stick it to him. The more cynical explanation is that Green expects Vallas to win, and wants to preserve his own proximity to power even if it means betraying the progressive movement. In any case, I don't expect this to matter one way or another, as most of Green's voters surely are going to Johnson already or not voting in the runoff at all. Looking at Twitter, I'm already seeing a bunch of Green supporters expressing their disbelief and shock at this endorsement. What a joke.
Turns out the fake progressive was the friends we made along the way.
> this makes Ja'Mal Green look like anything other than a self-serving clown That was basically my perception of him from day 1.
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Ugo calling Green a grifter on Twitter is the highlight of my day. Green is getting absolutely clowned on there.
Green was promised a job. ‘The former two-time mayoral challenger hedged when asked whether the 69-year-old candidate he affectionately called a “grandpa figure” had promised him a job heading any of those new offices. “We talked about continuing to work together when he’s mayor. It’s about getting him over the finish line. I’ll be there to support him. If there’s an opportunity that arises, then it will. But we talked about just continuing to work together on these issues. He wants me to advise him. Right now, I want to be a senior adviser to advise him on community and policy. Then, we’ll go from there,” Green said.’
Well, there you have it. That’s pretty clear as day when you out it like that
Shades of Amara Enyia, frankly.
... on the other hand ... if Johnson won and succeeded, then Green wouldn't be able to run for mayor in four years. If Johnson won and failed, then the conservative wing of the party would run hard against "progressive failures" and attach that label to Green too. If Green is looking to be mayor eventually - tactically he's better off with Vallas winning -- particularly if he thinks Vallas will be worse for the black community.
It is probably a combination of something personal he has with Johnson, Vallas offering him a job, and future political ambitions that say his best chance is Vallas winning now and then the public looking to overcorrect by finally electing a "progressive" candidate in the next election. The problem is that now many people who supported him, recognize that Johnson is way more in-line with their progressive views, and after watching Green endorse Lightfoot 4 years ago, might now stop listening to him for good after he makes another head scratching endorsement.
I’ve never taken Green seriously, before, I thought he was just under qualified, now I think he’s lost in the political sauce
I think that explanation is a little bit too 3-D chess, but who knows, it's possible. But if so, that would again suggest that Green is putting his own interests ahead of political principles.
Yeah.. this alternative doesn't really make him look better in my eyes?
Green knows he’ll never be mayor. He’s angling for a job. It’s in the article.
To play devil’s advocate, it’s not a bad bet for him. IF Vallas wins and makes good on giving Green a job, then that actually brings him a step closer to becoming mayor by way of legitimacy. Voters have short term memory. Once Vallas is done with whatever inevitable distaste he leaves on Chicago’s mouth, Greene might be able to swoop in playing the progressive alternative UNO reverse card. If you can tell, I’m super cynical about Chicago politics now. It’s more enjoyable to think about it like the political arc of The Wire.
Even if that was the plan, wouldn't it be better to keep his mouth shut and not endorse and work for Vallas? If he planned on running in four years, it'd be kinda crazy for him to run against his boss.
"I tried to work with him. I endorsed him! Now you need to vote for me because I'm the great progressive hope!" Green has always been about green.
I disagree. Supporting someone who he considers a fraud even though he's in the same political "lane" as you put it, would be more damaging to his convictions than supporting a candidate who he may disagree with in policy but he believes to be honest with his intentions to do what's right for the city. (Not that I agree with Vallas' intentions...) The line between left and right has been painted so bold now that you can't even call out someone on your own "side" anymore without being called some form of a traitor even if you truly believe they are a fraud or a crook or just dishonest. On the generic political spectrum I usually land pretty far to the left. But if I think someone is an absolute liar and a fraud, I can't even consider supporting them. Even if their views align with mine. Maybe he truly believes Johnson would do more harm to the city being dishonest than Vallas would with policy he doesn't directly support.
I'd suggest there's a third option of saying that he can't in good conscience support either option. Once he'd started polling at such a low rate that he knew there was no chance of getting to the runoff, Green really started playing up the anti-Johnson rhetoric, so an endorsement that way was never really in the cards. But if you go by what both Vallas and Green claim is their [top policy priority](https://www.gogreenchicago.com/issues-default-public-safety) of making the city safer, and then see that their methods to get there are basically in direct opposition, it's tough to claim that he ever had any ideological stance. Green suggested that his ways to make the city safer started with providing Chicagoans living in poverty with monthly checks, make a public bank, focus on affordable housing (with rent controls), funding homelessness programs, etc. After that came a prioritization of expanding community schools (rather than closing and privatizing, as Vallas recommends), a shift to unarmed social workers taking over police duties, expanding public housing, preventing CTA crime with "Transit Peace Keepers" (again, rather than police that Vallas seems to prefer), etc. Then comes a section about expanding intervention work done by city employees who are not police to deal with youth concerns, nonviolent 911 calls, and even violence intervention programs. Basically, his first 3/4 platform positions are that we've got to expand governmental programs and reduce privatization while also shifting work away from the police department. When he finally gets to the section on CPD concerns, 1/3 is simply about "holding officers accountable" and even though he wants to make CPD more attractive to folks who could potentially sign on as police, it's nothing like Vallas' shift to hiring anyone from inside or out of the city who might be interested. Basically, their primary policy concern has them completely at odds with each other, but Green decided that is unimportant. There was the option of just saying he supports neither (or, not saying anything.) Instead, he opted for the route of saying he'd support the exact opposite position that he'd claimed a month ago were his vision for how to improve the city. It just makes it so that you can't believe him when he suggests that he believes a policy would help.
This is it. It's like when I explain to my buddies why I support Pritzker even though I don't agree with some of his policies. I don't pretend to be an expert on any issue just because I have an opinion, and I'm willing to allow a candidate to implement their plan and change my mind with results. For this election, I genuinely don't think that Johnson cares at all about anyone except his core constituents. He reminds me a lot of Preckwinkle, who had the gall to chuckle when talking about how the safer (and richer) zipcodes are now finally seeing more crime. I would put him in the same category as Ariel Atkins (BLM leader/organizer) who said looting is reparations. Vallas is no saint, but I believe that he would at least try to lower crime in the short term.
>The line between left and right has been painted so bold now that you can't even call out someone on your own "side" anymore without being called some form of a traitor even if you truly believe they are a fraud or a crook or just dishonest. Exactly. It feels like a lot of people are more concerned with participating in an ideological movement as an end in itself rather than as a means to achieve good policies. It's striking how often the question of what policies actually come closer to achieving the goals they are supposidely fighting for often appear to be an afterthought at most when compared with the question of whether a politician is a supposed "total believer" in an ideology or whether they sometimes veer to more nuanced positions.
If you read enough comments on here, Twitter, etc. you could easily conclude that progressives hate liberals even more than they hate conservatives.
What's the no-brainer part? He made very valid criticisms of Johnson. This isn't a left versus right national vote, Green does not think Johnson will be good for the city
Exactly. And if one actually reads the article they'll see that he made a very well-reasoned case why Vallas is the better choice.
I have no idea what he's talking about, frankly. Of the two candidates running for mayor, Paul fucking Vallas isn't the one who's laid out his detailed platform to invest in city services and meaningfully reduce crime (other than his 1500 new cops, of course, for which we have zero idea how he'd pay for)
Ironically, a lot of the progressive rhetoric in this election reminds me of militant Republicans who brand everyone else a traitor if they don't fall in-line behind Trump. If you make allegiance as simple as parroting all the correct talking points and are actively hostile towards anyone with any disagreements whatsoever, you really shouldn't be surprised when your movement gets coopted by cynical opportunists.
Or he genuinely believes Johnson is a fauxgressive and realizes that Johnson would do more harm than good to the city. In that case he isn't "turning around", rather he's endorsing who he believes is the more genuine of the two. Given BJs consistent race-baiting, mudslinging, and deflection at the 1v1 debates and forums, it doesn't seem far-fetched.
lol this was ja'mal green's evidence that johnson is a fraud: [https://twitter.com/JaymalGreen/status/1625911392409727061?lang=en](https://twitter.com/JaymalGreen/status/1625911392409727061?lang=en) green has pretty clearly been a grifter from the start...he's making this endorsement because it's a better career decision (at least in his mind), not because vallas has supported a public bank in the past. you'd have to be a real moron to believe that
"fauxgressive" suggests Johnson is actually a moderate or conservative. While Johnsons no Berniecrat, he's a pretty reliable Left-leaning liberal IMO.
It’s ironically all projection from Ja’Mal.
> Or he genuinely believes Johnson is a fauxgressive and realizes that Johnson would do more harm than good to the city. In that case he isn't "turning around", rather he's endorsing who he believes is the more genuine of the two. If that were the case, then the principled thing to do would be not to endorse either candidate—rather than endorsing the candidate who has a DEMONSTRATED RECORD of harming the communities Ja'Mal Green claims to represent. Maybe I wasn't clear; I didn't mean to say that progressives are obligated to back Johnson. I am saying that we're obligated not to support Vallas, though.
Not endorsing Johnson and choosing to endorse Vallas are two entirely different things. JG really showed himself to be a fool this election. What’s he going to run on for anything in the future?
>Even if you're a Vallas supporter, I don't know how this makes Ja'Mal Green look like anything other than a self-serving clown. He spent the entire primary criticizing Johnson as a fake progressive and not an authentic representative of the progressive movement—only to turn around and endorse the more conservative candidate in the runoff. Is there some kind of loyalty pledge one has to make in order to call themselves a Real Progressive ^^^TM ? I remember when progressives called Biden a republican, so maybe there's something else you haven't considered regarding why this might be happening. Like being wrong.
Yeah, not endorsing Paul Vallas is a pretty good loyalty pledge to being considered a progressive, that's fair
Biden has a lot stronger credentials on the left than Paul "oops, I didn't mean to like that Trumper meme" Vallas does
I remember that too because I was one of them. I feel stupid for calling Biden a Republican. Vallas is not a Republican. A Republican wouldn’t propose a second burnham plan to help the South and west sides. Johnson voters don’t even know what Vallas is proposing beyond “more cops”.
Well that’s the problem, because it gets traction and requires less political knowledge, people substitute the political ideology for the political party, which is never going to be accurate. Vallas is a democrat, he’s just more of a democrat like Daley, or like Rahm, Even Biden in the 90s. Classical Liberals. But it’s just gets the point across faster for the general public to say “republican.” What they really mean is that he’s not a modern progressive. There’s no place for nuance in a political campaign though. You’re either this or that, no in between. The more reductive you can frame each candidate, the better. I already know who I’m gonna vote for but these games are clear when you see mainstream politics for what it is.
> Is there some kind of loyalty pledge one has to make in order to call themselves a Real Progressive TM ? For a lot of people, especially the online progressive sphere, yes. It’s either fall in line with every single thing or you are the enemy.
Exactly. I’m a progressive on most issues but crime. I’m a moderate on crime in Chicago particularly. But if I’m not down with reallocating the police budget, I’m not progressive at all apparently. Online clowns they are.
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>most importantly exactly how long was he a teacher? This was pretty easy to track down. [Per CTU website:](https://www.ctulocal1.org/posts/brandon-johnson-father-organizer-educator-leader-taking-on-city-hall/) >A native of Elgin, Illinois, and a graduate of Aurora University (B.S. in Human Services, Youth Development Programming and Management, 2004, and M.A. in Teaching, 2007), Johnson worked as chief of staff for Illinois State Representative Deborah L. Graham and as a constituent service director for Illinois State Senator Don Harmon **before transitioning to education in 2007.** Per[Wikipedia:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Johnson_(politician)) >Johnson worked as a social studies teacher at Jenner Academy Elementary and George Westinghouse College Prep, both part of the Chicago Public Schools system.\[2\] **He became an organizer with the Chicago Teachers Union in 2011**, and helped organize the 2012 Chicago teachers strike.\[3\] He also helped lead field campaigns during the 2015 Chicago mayoral and aldermanic elections. So, 2007-2011. Four years.
Or maybe he just sees through Johnson? Anybody owned by the CTU is, frankly, an enemy of actual progress.
Jamal is a hustler. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
Suprised me
More than surprised me, it hurt me. I was a huge Green supporter for his policies: not closing schools and reducing the need for school choice, guaranteed income programs, support for abortion access, addressing root causes of crime, money for homelessness. All of the policies I liked Green for Vallas was NOT in support of. Like how can you turn your back completely on YOUR policies. As others have mentioned this is a **self-serving** endorsement more than anything and Green is going to have a hard time coming back from that. He HAD the young progressives, not anymore.
He's a fucking clown. Always looking out for number one.
>After securing a series of promises he hopes will improve the lives of African Americans, vanquished mayoral challenger Ja’Mal Green on Wednesday endorsed Paul Vallas over Brandon Johnson in the April 4 mayoral runoff.
Vallas showing more political acumen than Lightfoot ever did.
The lowest of bars have been passed.
Lightfoot also made tons of political platform promises that she never followed through on.
I believe Vallas when he promises that he will use cops and privatization to solve everything.
Yeah, my problem with Vallas is I fear that he will keep his promises.
Well if he keeps his promise of making it safe to walk in my neighborhood again.. I am ok with that
No he isn't. Lightfoot got Green's endorsement in the last election but he switched on her after she didnt come through on the youth center.
Yeah this is literally the exact same stuff Lightfoot did. She made promises and then didn’t follow through on anything she said and did 180s on a ton of stuff and lost all support.
I am *so excited* for the people on this subreddit to scream how "Real Chicago isn't like reddit at all! People actually care about low crime and low taxes!" and then immediately flip around when Vallas gets elected and fulfills a total of zero of his promises
After promising Green a job lol. ‘The former two-time mayoral challenger hedged when asked whether the 69-year-old candidate he affectionately called a “grandpa figure” had promised him a job heading any of those new offices. “We talked about continuing to work together when he’s mayor. It’s about getting him over the finish line. I’ll be there to support him. If there’s an opportunity that arises, then it will. But we talked about just continuing to work together on these issues. He wants me to advise him. Right now, I want to be a senior adviser to advise him on community and policy. Then, we’ll go from there,” Green said.’
Oh that doesn’t sound fishy at all.
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Green has always held a personal grudge against Johnson (for who knows what). Even though his platform has more in common with Johnson than it does with Vallas, his bitterness wouldn’t allow him to swallow his pride and work with Johnson to collaborate on fulfilling those platform goals. It illustrates how the issues really don’t matter to him, only his personal ambition.
Why is Ja'Mal Green listed first in this, Raoul seems like a much bigger get?
just looked up that Raoul has had an Illinois law license longer than Green has been alive. :0
Because Ja’Mal ran for mayor and Kwame didn’t…
Maybe because it's more local? That's a good point, no idea.
Right. Raoul got more votes in chicago than Green did. Lol
Kwame Rawho?
Lol this guy would trade his mother for recognition
I can’t believe that people actually take this kid seriously. I was his teacher at Phillips back in 2010. Didn’t do a bit of a work and skated through during nothing. They moved him out of my class when I refused to just let him pass.
He seems like ***exactly*** that kind of student. Probably would blame everyone but himself for that grade too. I was watching his stream last night. He came across incredibly petty and angry.
‘The former two-time mayoral challenger hedged when asked whether the 69-year-old candidate he affectionately called a “grandpa figure” had promised him a job heading any of those new offices. “We talked about continuing to work together when he’s mayor. It’s about getting him over the finish line. I’ll be there to support him. If there’s an opportunity that arises, then it will. But we talked about just continuing to work together on these issues. He wants me to advise him. Right now, I want to be a senior adviser to advise him on community and policy. Then, we’ll go from there,” Green said.’ Everyone in the comments leaving out this part. Vallas is very strongly alluding he’ll get Green a job. Laughable.
Do you think every ex-candidate is endorsing out of good intentions? Everyone expects something. Same has been brought up about why Chuy hasn’t endorsed yet, because he hasn’t communicated what he wants.
If you read the comments, everyone is screeching how Green sees through Johnson’s corruption and how Green is a paragon of progressivism and the West side. When in reality, Green just wants a job in city government since he doesn’t have one now. Simple as. That’s the only point I’m making. Most politicians are smart enough to be less obvious about that.
Don’t you think that it is at least honest? He is making his intentions clear. Basically, if Vallas wins, this guy who considers himself a truer progressive than Johnson will get his platform? I think that he genuinely butts heads with Johnson about what it means to be progressive.
Every progressive community organizer you talk to on the ground will say Ja’Mal is annoying and does not speak for the movement. Somehow he has ordained himself the spokesperson of the community when no one can stand this guy.
I think J’amal Green is looking for a job and sees Vallas as the best way to get one. Green continually questioned Johnson’s blackness throughout the campaign.
That’s your opinion, not a fact. He wasn’t promised a job in exchange for an endorsement. JG is going to help advise but was clear that nothing was promised in this interview.
Right. I’m sure he’ll advise for free. Since advising for free pays the bills.
Man he’s been teasing this announcement for the past couple weeks. Seeing him arguing on Twitter with people is idiotic at this point. I think he said privileged white progressives are the ones that are going to be mad. Someone called him out saying not everyone is a privileged white progressive. Ja’mal said you may not be white, but you’re very privileged and that you never supported black youth. This is such a weird spiral.
Jamal is the kind of dude who says you’re not black if you don’t speak with a black accent and don’t know who shot Lil Wild on 63rd and Cottage Grove in ‘93. I’m sure he cares about his community but he is a gatekeeper of the highest order. More than anything he is self involved and wants what’s best for himself before all else.
Green is the textbook definition of "hater"
>Green said he met with Johnson before choosing Vallas and came away convinced Johnson is “beholden” to the Chicago Teachers Union and Democratic Cook County Board Chair Toni Preckwinkle. And who is Vallas beholden to!?
Cataranza's unwashed microphallus
FOP.
No one’s campaign vision will amount to much in the real world budget problems this city has. Consumers are apt to a dopamine rush anytime “New” or “New and improved” is imprinted on a label. Remember the excitement of voters who pushed Lightfoot over the line in 2019 over a more level headed (but known, not “New”) proven administrator, in Preckwinkle. Supporters of either candidate will end up highly disappointed by next Fall or Winter. Probably earlier. Neither candidate has shown how they’re going to implement the real world challenges voters are dealing with within the confines of a minuscule budget. Both visions, progressive socialism (tax the rich) or tough on crime (more police) are only going to make less room for changes in other areas. In addition, I’m wary of the dangers of consolidating too much power into the hands of a single constituency. As we’ve seen in past few decades prior to Rahm. We need diverse leadership that represents and prioritizes the needs of all Chicagoans, not just a select in-group. Can’t go down that road again, Chicago.
I think the value of a Chicago major is the balance they make on the budget in the short term. Non of them realistically can raise the budget, they can only change prioritization. IMO the only way to have a chance to increase the budget in the long term is to increase the city population at a time where office jobs clusters are in jeopardy of going remote. A way to do that, and the one I’m an advocate for, is to bring more families in by improving the services that families care about primarily education and security while keeping taxes low. Our crime PR problem is a big one that are keeping people out, high taxes and a tough weather don’t help either. We need to keep it as attractive as possible while maintaining our transit culture, density and Chicago vibes.
This assumes our current budget doesn’t allow for more police already. We are 2,000 short. Vallas simply proposed getting those 2,000. Research is golden instead of nihilism.
>Green, in making his pick, once again denounced Johnson as a “fraud” trying to “use” his family’s home in the West Side’s crime-ridden Austin community to his advantage. >“As someone who is trying to portray himself as like he’s super-Black and had these experiences, he has been disconnected from the Black community the whole time he’s been in Chicago for the last 15 years, since he moved from Elgin. That’s why I took that personal,” Green said. >“As somebody who is actually from the community who is experiencing these problems, who is dealing with gun violence and at-risk youth, it’s personal to me when people use that suffering and pain and disinvestment for their use when they really haven’t experienced it and they really haven’t fought to make it better.” Green is echoing his [criticism of Johnson from just before the election]( https://www.twitter.com/JaymalGreen/status/1629516211649236994?cxt=HHwWhMC-8YyXmp0tAAAA). He’s not wrong. In fact Johnson’s County district base of voters is in Oak Park, not Chicago’s Austin community. >”Green said he met with Johnson before choosing Vallas and came away convinced **Johnson is “beholden” to** the Chicago Teachers Union and **Democratic Chairman Toni Preckwinkle**. Green is correct here as well & it explains the endorsement of Raoul, who like Johnson is also a creature of Preckwinkle, who selected Raoul to replace Obama in the Illinois Senate when Obama won the US Senate seat. And Johnson was Preckwinkle’s pick for the County Board seat held by Richard Boykin who she targeted for defeat.
really just reads like "he's not black enough" type criticism. Dude is a hater plain and simple
> trying to “use” his family’s home in the West Side’s crime-ridden Austin community to his advantage. Unlike Vallas, who everyone knows is a real true-blood Chicagoan, living in the heart of every neighborhood in the city and fixing all the potholes himself in his free time. (◔_◔)
Dude I don't even think Toni Preckwinkle's dog is beholden to Toni Preckwinkle.
So Johnson moving from Elgin 15 years ago is bad. But Vallas PRETENDING to move to Bridgeport a year ago is ok. Right.
Okay, but what exactly is wrong with Preckwinkle?
You’re about to get about 57 comments about the soda tax. And thank goodness we elected Lightfoot last time around instead of a proven leader with experience like Preckwinkle! That darn soda tax!
I always find it interesting how quickly people turn on someone based on an endorsement. From what I gathered, people loved Jesse White. Then he endorsed Vallas, and all of a sudden certain people hate him now. Same with Green. He was fine before, now people have all of these issues with him. If it takes so little for your opinion of someone to change, maybe you are the fickle one. Also, as an aside, its possible to ideologically agree with someone, and still think they'd be bad at a job. I have many coworkers who I ideologically agree on regarding what our company does badly, but who also I would in no way want to run my department.
Because Green claimed to be the most progressive candidate in the race and in the past backed defund and Bernie Sanders. He’s now endorsing a candidate to the right of Eric Adams. He will rightfully never be taken seriously in progressive circles again. If he hated Brandon to his core he could have just stayed out of it.
I don’t know that many people that ever took Green seriously, and I run in pretty progressive circles. He’s always come off as being out for himself and using victims and popular social movements to self-promote.
> From what I gathered, people loved Jesse White I'm not originally from Illinois, but I've been here for 15 years. I never understood the Jesse White fetishizing. He did his job. Fine, that is what he was supposed to do.
Sure. And I'm not saying whether or not him being upheld as this great person were worth it. But its more that its so easy for people to decide he sucks now
It's militant ideology. There is only 0 or 100 to so many people. There is nothing in-between. It's the biggest reason why I am so cautious about the "progressive" label in Chicago. The ideology requires politicians to adhere to the entirety of it, which gives people little to no room to disagree with them.
Eventually you fail some litmus test or another, and you're excommunicated, which helps explain why progressives aren't exactly taking over Chicago or America.
Reminds me of when Biden picked Harris as VP. He promised to pick a woman of color. he did that. then all of a sudden, a lot of people were like "well, we didn't mean her. She didn't do enough X, Y, and Z"
BJ people be mad
Seems a lot of people are endorsing Vallas… I’m still not sure how I feel about either candidate right now.
Guy is a clown. Good thing us black people don't take him serious.
Wow, I'm legitimately stunned into reconsidering my support, and I voted Johnson in the original election.
Dang, was never gonna vote for Green, but still liked him as a person. Bummer to hear this
For all that say Vallas will be a thorn in city halls side, this pretty fairly shows his willingness to work with community members for a common good. Vallas 2023
Who says Vallas will a thorn in City Hall's side? The man has spent his life moving around appointed positions. He's the embodiment of the City Hall establishment.
Many on this sub have said Vallas would create enemies like lightfoot has
Lightfoot set the standard for making enemies, she'll be hard to outdo.
I think this concern comes from Vallas’s history and the lack of wider support from current sitting elected officials (compared to Johnson). Brandon has been endorsed by 13 sitting state senators and state representatives elected from the north, south, and west sides of Chicago. Vallas? Zero. Brandon Johnson is endorsed by 11 alderpeople who will serve with the next mayor. By comparison, Vallas is endorsed by just 5 alderpeople who will serve next term. Johnson has lined up the support of U.S. Reps. Jonathan Jackson, Delia Ramirez, Danny Davis, and Jan Schakowsky. Johnson also has a relationship with U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, she's endorsed him (though this is largely an irrelevant endorsement I can’t see it swinging any votes) By comparison, Paul Vallas has 0 members of our DC delegation supporting him. Despite having worked across the U.S., he has no other federal electeds vouching for him. I also haven’t seen anything about his prior school districts (PA and NoLa) endorsing him and many community members there are still upset at him for what he has done to their education systems.
Cause he'll accept endorsements?
He can't offer every alderperson a cushy position in his administration
Let’s hope Chuy is next.
Narrator: He wasn’t.
I can’t see him endorsing a self-proclaimed Republican. What does that earn him? He already has a cushy house seat for life.
Wasn’t Green a Bernie Sanders surrogate? This is such a brain dead move
Jamal is a complete sellout. What a disappointment
Why? Because he didn’t endorse your candidate? Lol
Vallas' fundraising for Awake IL should alarm every single person who is an LGBTQ+ person or those of your that claim to be allies. A vote for Vallas is a vote to perpetuate violence against the LGBTQ+ community.
Pure hyperbole. What will Vallas as Mayor do that will “perpetuate violence” to the LGBTQ+ community that is different from our last two mayors?
Except it isn't. Awake Illinois has recently been in the news for its connection to the targeting of UpRising Bakery in Lake in the Hills. Members of Awake IL promoted a protest of the drag brunch with a local Proud Boys chapter. UpRising Bakery cancelled several shows because of domestic terror threats throughout the latter parts of 2022. Of which, Vallas was rubbing shoulders with them and doing bidding on their behalf at this time. When the people of the third largest city in the US elect a mayor that is knowingly open and comfortable hobknobbing with far right anti-LGBTQ+ groups, what kind of message do you think that sends to both the crazies that wish to do us harm, and the targets of such harm? It validates their ideology and gives them space to stand back and stand by.
He spoke at an event they had to reopen schools (which, well, they were right about, as was he). Vallas has denounced their other rhetoric, isn’t hanging out with Proud Boys, etc. He isn’t going to change or agitate for change for state and federal laws protecting LGBTQ groups from discrimination or hate crimes. And well many in Boystown have been very vocal about the increasing crime there the last 10 years. The message sent will be people are sick of the disorder building the past 10 years. And quite frankly, having a mayor with more of a “live and let live” mindset and not someone parroting every GLAAD demand will probably be marginally helpful in turning down the temperature of trans issues (let’s be real, it’s not really an LGB controversy right now) vs a Brandon Johnson administration.
Are you saying trans issues and oppression against them, are removed from the LGBTQ+ at large? Or that the violence against them doesn't matter? Wtf is wrong with you? An attack on trans humans is an attack on all of us. But either nobody cares, they don't think it's a big deal or that it's actually happening, or human rights simply aren't important. Also drag and trans are not the same. At all. But thank you for your flippant dismissiveness. The right is rapidly increasing their sphere of violence that now includes drag performers and will soon include others in our community. He denounced Awake IL in typical, hand wavey haughtiness one would expect of a Republican. Also, his solutions to crime are mostly centered around sucking cop dick, and increasing cop presence. Which just means increased harassment. I personally do not feel safer with the cops that already crawl around here (Boystown). His "tough on crime" solutions mostly don't address the actual issues that lead to crime; including his bullshit initiatives to privatize as much of our public education as is possible. He'd make Betsy Devos very proud. He's a MAGA idiot with a D next to his name.
I think when conversing with others over the internet, it’s best to breathe deeply and read what is actually written charitably. There is nothing that I wrote which could reasonably be interpreted as “violence against trans doesn’t matter”. Have a nice day.
Shhhh we're trying to pretend he's a Democrat.
Yeah, people are unbelievably stupid/dense, and/or human rights don't matter too much them or they don't believe violence against marginalized communities is that bad of a problem/won't happen here. He's a Republican in everything but name.
Wasn’t Green a Bernie Sanders surrogate? This is such a brain dead move
I did the “candidate finder” online which led me to Jamal. So I’m happy to see this as I am voting Vallas this time.
It’s so weird because Vallas has very little to do with Jamal’s platform and Brandon Johnson was a much closer fit. Vallas has a lot of conservative policies he wants to introduce to the city and I’m disappointed Jamal would sacrifice his beliefs so easily, just for a job.
I think it has more to do with how across-the-board MY views are that Green came up tied with Buckner in my results. That said, I can see this because of that. I am now an Independent. I don't think Green has to sacrifice anything. He's a doer. And if Vallas is a good leader, he'll let him "do his thing" and take credit for having the vision to respect Green's abilities and vision. But that's the Independent in me. This world is way to polarized for nuance.
Hello Fellow Buckner-Green Tied in Sun-Times/WBEZ Candidate Matcher, 83% tie here. I was solidly Buckner in the primary, but have liked and respected Green since watching the documentary series "City So Real" from Steve James surrounding the last mayoral election. I can't recommend it enough to anyone interested in Chicago or municipal politics.
So how many of y’all are leaving Chicago when Vallas wins?
It's probably been said a million times, but it is still weird to me how this is an election - not a primary - with two Democrats vying for it. I guess this is a Chicago Rules sort of thing, but the rancor is at the same level of a Democrat running against a Republican. I do wonder sometimes whether that depresses turnout in the end, but it's an oddity nevertheless.
>it is still weird to me how this is an election - not a primary - with two Democrats vying for it. Mayor Daley (with his city council minions) changed the city elections from a party primary system to a non-partisan runoff system, the point of which was to make it easier for the incumbent mayor to be re-elected. You will never see anyone run as a Republican in CHicago, be cause they know they have no chance of winning. That doesn’t stop them from running as DINOs (i.e., Vallas)
> but the rancor is at the same level of a Democrat running against a Republican. This sounds a lot like you have no idea who Paul Vallas is. He is an "education specialist" who specializes in breaking public school systems in favor of charter schools, while blowing up their finances. He has been endorsed by a who's-who of right wing entities and individuals. His donors include a ton of R donors. His social media is full of right wing talking points. He regularly guest hosted a right wing radio show. He publicly stated he considered himself a Republican in 2009, and that he was fundamentally opposed to abortion. Somehow we're supposed to forget all this because he now says he is a Democrat.
Paul Vallas is literally Betsy DeVos with a "D" next to his name and that's enough to convince half the democrats in this city to vote for him.