Brandon Johnson sought to echo Martin Luther King Jr. last week at the biggest rally of the Chicago mayor’s race so far, telling a crowd of thousands that the election was an opportunity to “take the progressive movement around the world.”
Johnson, the progressive Cook County commissioner, faces moderate former Chicago public schools chief Paul Vallas in the Second City mayoral runoff on Tuesday – a day that marks the 55th anniversary of King’s assassination.
At the rally Thursday, Johnson invoked King’s remarks during a 17-month campaign that began in 1965 to reverse discriminatory housing practices in Chicago.
“If we can figure it out in Chicago, we can figure it out anywhere in the world,” Johnson said alongside the late civil rights leader’s son Martin Luther King III.
His comments offered a window into the racial and ideological divides that could decide the outcome of a contest in which Black and Latino voters who supported other candidates in the February first round are the most important constituency. And the runoff result could hint at the mood of the Democratic electorate as the 2024 presidential election gets underway and shape how the party’s candidates across the political map seek to build coalitions and how they discuss crime and policing.
Nine candidates, including incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot, competed in the February 28 mayoral election in Chicago, with Vallas and Johnson advancing to the runoff as the top finishers.
Vallas’ early message focused almost exclusively on cracking down on crime by adding more police officers, emphasizing community policing and placing law enforcement on public transit. He is backed by the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police and has a base of support that is largely White and more moderate.
Johnson, a former teacher and Chicago Teachers Union organizer, is…
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