The Crusader
Chicago has never had a mayor like Brandon Johnson. Can the former teacher and union organizer remake the city?
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Gown vs. Town
Northwestern’s plan to replace Ryan Field with a sports and entertainment complex is causing a hometown hassle.
Yesterday’s Radicals Have Become Today’s Establishment
Community organizing was born in Chicago, so it’s a surprise that it took so long for an organizer to become mayor.
The Man Who Called the Election
Not all pollsters were predicting a slim Paul Vallas victory going into the April 4 mayoral runoff. IZQ Strategies had Brandon Johnson in the lead — and by an eye-opening 5 percentage points. Once mail-in votes were tabulated, that forecast wasn’t far off: Johnson wound up with 52.1 percent of the vote to Vallas’s 47.9. … Read more
There Is One Map of Chicago
Whether you’re talking about food deserts, violence, or poverty, the maps are all the same — and they reflect historic generational disinvestment.
Rowe v. Raoul
While we await a pivotal court ruling, here’s all you need to know about Illinois’s plan to bail on cash bail.
Lightfoot’s Legacy
Yes, she did not play well with others, but the departing mayor also curbed ward fiefdoms and boosted neglected neighborhoods.
Brandon Johnson Won’t Turn Chicago Into Detroit
White politicians can stop wringing their hands: Chicago’s economic diversity, political traditions, and demographic realities will keep it from following in Detroit’s footsteps.
How Nonpartisan Elections Helped Chicago Move Past Racial Divisions
The last Republican candidate for mayor of Chicago was, literally, a clown. His name was Ray Wardingley. He had once performed as “Spanky the Clown” to raise money for the cancer ward at St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Wardingley had also filled in as Stanley Sting, the mascot of the Chicago Sting soccer club. At five-foot-four, … Read more