Who is running for mayor of Chicago in 2027? A look at potential candidates

CHICAGO - More candidates are joining the potentially crowded race for Chicago mayor in 2027 as incumbent Mayor Brandon Johnson struggles to maintain support and hasn’t even said whether he’ll run for reelection.

The mayoral election won’t take place until Feb. 23, but already, candidates have been officially launching their campaigns over the past several weeks. If no candidates receive a majority of the vote, the top two finishers will go head-to-head in a runoff election on April 6.

Chicago mayors serve four-year terms.

While Johnson’s political future remains unclear some eight months out from Election Day, here is a rundown of who has officially declared their candidacy, or at least said they’re running.

The candidates

Several candidates not named Brandon Johnson have already officially announced their campaigns for mayor so far this year.

Matthew Brewer

Brewer is the former CEO and board chair of the Chicago Housing Authority and announced his candidacy just last week.

That came just months after a power struggle with Johnson over CHA leadership. Brewer made affordable housing a key point in his campaign announcement.

He's a native of the Grand Crossing neighborhood and holds degrees from Stanford University, Yale Law School and Harvard Business School, according to his biography. He said he also founded the city's first Black-owned cannabis dispensary.

George Cardenas

Cardenas serves on the Cook County Board of Review, which is in charge of overseeing property assessment appeals for taxes. He previously served as an alderman representing parts of the city's Southwest Side for nearly two decades.

He's said fiscal discipline, public safety and "family stability" the key priorities of his campaign.

Susana Mendoza

Mendoza has served as the state’s "chief fiscal control officer" for nearly a decade, during which she was tasked with maintaining the state’s fiscal accounts and the paying of its bills.

The Chicago native previously served as a state legislator for a decade and then as Chicago’s city clerk before being elected to comptroller in a special election in late 2016.

She also ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2019, in which she finished fifth in the first round of voting. Lori Lightfoot would go on to defeat Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle in that runoff election.

Mike Quigley

Quigley has served in Congress since 2009, representing parts of Chicago's North Side.

He previously served on the Cook County Board of Commissioners.

In Congress, Quigley has supported Medicare for All, supported abortion and LGBTQ rights, legislation to improve the environment and making federal buildings safer for birds.

He's laid out his approach to tackling the city's $1 billion in debt before launching his campaign just this past weekend.

Liam Stanton

Stranton is a businessman and first-time candidate who is proposing what he calls "bold, practical solutions" to the city's biggest challenges.

He's also proposed government reforms like term limits for elected officials and moving local elections to November to increase turnout. He also wants to provide universal childcare, increase CPD officers on the street and conduct a forensic audit of the city's finances.

Johnson’s future in question

Since winning the 2023 runoff election against Paul Vallas by riding support from progressive voters and the Chicago Teachers Union, Johnson has struggled to maintain popular support.

The city’s persistent fiscal challenges and rising costs have continued to plague the city. Some violent crime is back on the rise after falling to historic lows last year. High-profile incidents like attacks on the CTA system and large, at times violent large gatherings of young people have garnered national headlines. 

Johnson has also continued to argue for the Chicago Bears to remain in the city, but the team appears well on its way to leaving for either the suburbs or Northwest Indiana. The mayor’s administration has also seen turnover of higher-level agency officials, some of whom have left very critical of the mayor.

All the while, Johnson has failed to get some of his larger policy initiatives through a City Council that has increasingly shown an independent streak, especially on the mayor’s fiscal policies.

Just this past week, a political action committee formed by business leaders who have opposed Johnson released the results of a poll that found nearly two-thirds of Chicagoans disapprove of the job he’s done in office. And 71% of respondents said they would not vote for him in 2027, were he to run for reelection.

"Brandon Johnson, while affable and charismatic, is not the leader Chicagoans are looking for in their next mayor; they are seeking a different kind of leadership — one that is focused on results and not rhetoric," said Michael Ruemmler, president of the organization One Future Illinois, said in a statement.

The mayor has continually dodged questions about whether he’d run for a second term. Just this past week, after signing an executive order to establish a city Office of Gun Violence Reduction, Johnson responded to another question about a potential reelection bid and the negative poll numbers.

"Look, my priority is building safe and affordable communities," Johnson said. "I believe a few years ago I was polling at 2.2% [in 2023 election polls]...and yet here we are making history signing an executive order."

He added that there have been moments during his tenure in which Chicagoans have kept him "humble." For instance, he said just that morning, a woman had to wait for him and his team to get onto an elevator. Johnson described her exasperated reaction.

"’Ugh, I gotta wait for this guy,’" he said, laughing. "Which is, to me, this is the most Chicago response because that’s love. Because this is how familiar Chicagoans are. And here’s the part that was actually most humbling: She didn’t necessarily suggest she wouldn’t wait for someone, just not for this guy."

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