When it was clear in February that Chicago voters had resoundingly rejected another term for disastrous then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot, there was talk that maybe Democrats in the Windy City had a wake-up call and were ready to choose someone who though still a liberal Democrat perhaps wouldn’t be so beholden to woke dogma and might bring a little sanity back to one of America’s most iconic cities.
After all, then-Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas, who opposed defunding the police and who was a proponent of school choice, received 185,743 votes. Far-left Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, a defund proponent and a favorite of the Chicago Teachers Union, got 122,093.
The contrasts between the two Democrat candidates who made it to the April run-off were “stark,” as noted at the time by NBC News:
Ideologically, the choice between Vallas and Johnson is stark. Vallas ran as a moderate law-and-order candidate, while Johnson ran on an unabashedly progressive agenda.
As it turned out, Johnson emerged as the victor after a month of falsely painting Vallas as a Republican masquerading as a Democrat, getting 319,481 votes to Vallas’ 293,033.
And Johnson did not even wait to take office before declaring exactly how he would handle chronic crime issues like teen mobs taking over city streets, where rioting and the looting of businesses have become commonplace along with random assaults:
“In no way do I condone the destructive activity we saw in the Loop and lakefront this weekend. It is unacceptable and has no place in our city. However, it is not constructive to demonize youth who have otherwise been starved of opportunities in their own communities.Our city must work together to create spaces for youth to gather safely and responsibly, under adult guidance and supervision, to ensure that every part of our city remains welcome for both residents and visitors. This is one aspect of my comprehensive approach to improve public safety and make Chicago livable for everyone.”
Since taking office, Johnson has faced mutiny from core Democrat voting blocs over issues like the illegal immigrant influx, where he oftentimes leaves residents out of discussions on where the city is considering placing the illegal immigrants.
Johnson has also continued to berate the people of Chicago for their negative views toward the teen mobsters, telling reporters that “mob” is an inappropriate term to use considering the city’s mafia history:
“That’s not appropriate,” the newly minted mayor said in response to a reporter’s question about trends like “mob actions” the city has endured.“We’re not talking about mob actions. I didn’t say that,” Johnson barked back. “These large gatherings … it’s important that we speak of these dynamics in an appropriate way.”[…]“There’s history in this city. To refer to children as ‘baby Al Capones’ is not appropriate.”
Meanwhile, priorities and stuff:
If you’re thinking, “Dang, I didn’t think it could get worse than Lori Lightfoot, but it has,” you’re not alone. A new poll released just six months into Johnson’s term in office shows that a vast majority of the city’s voters agree:
Johnson’s support has cratered by double digits among those core voting groups:
Though on one hand, one can empathize with what Chicagoans are feeling right now, on the other you have to think “You get what you voted for”:
As I’ve said before, as long as this continues to happen with voters making these same decisions again and again, people can expect the deterioration of Democrat-run cities like Chicago to continue. Yes, Brandon Johnson is just one of many bad-faith public officials on the left in the Prairie State, but at some point the people who keep putting them in positions of power need to own up to the damage they’ve done in continuing to elect them in the first place.
In other words, if you are a resident of Chicago and you keep pulling that lever for Democrats and expecting a different result, then you are part of the problem.
— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —
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