Bernie Sanders endorses Brandon Johnson in Chicago mayoral race

Ryan King

March 16, 05:30 PM March 16, 05:30 PM

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) waded into the contentious Democratic race for Chicago mayor, endorsing progressive Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson.

Sanders lavished praise on Johnson for being a "champion for working families" and backing initiatives for social services by ramping up taxes on the rich. Johnson has taken more progressive positions on myriad issues relative to his foe, Paul Vallas, the former CEO of Chicago Public Schools.

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"He is not afraid to stand up for strong unions and make big corporations and the rich pay their fair share to invest in affordable housing, quality health care, better schools, and good jobs," Sanders said in a statement. "Brandon understands the struggles of working people, and is prepared to address them, and that is why I am proud to endorse his campaign for mayor of the city of Chicago."

The Chicago contest garnered national attention after incumbent Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot lost reelection, the first incumbent to do so since 1989. She had been under fire for high levels of crime and homelessness and her response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Johnson welcomed Sanders's backing. He was recently endorsed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) last week.

"I’m honored to have the support of Senator @BernieSanders in this campaign. Our movement is about fighting for working people, and that is what Sen. Sanders has done his entire life. Together, we will deliver the change we need to build a better, safer Chicago," Johnson tweeted.

Polls have pegged a tight race between the two, who advanced to a runoff after the Feb. 28 election. One recent poll conducted by Victory Research found Vallas edging out Johnson 44.9% to 39.1%.

Johnson has lurched to the left on public safety compared to Vallas, who has positioned himself as the law and order candidate. Vallas is backed by the Fraternal Order of Police and has rankled progressives over his support for school choice.

The pair are slated to face off in the April 4 mayoral runoff.

Biden tries to rebrand Democrats on crime, but urban liberals don't cooperate

Naomi Lim

March 03, 04:00 AM March 03, 04:00 AM

President Joe Biden and Democrats are fending off accusations they are "soft on crime" amid congressional Republican-led efforts to overturn a Washington, D.C., crime bill and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot's ouster from office, perceived as a rebuke of her handling of public safety.

The resurgence of the issue, a weakness for Democrats in 2020, coincides with Biden's preparations for his 2024 campaign in an election cycle poised to be difficult for his party's Senate candidates.

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Chicago voters "soundly" rejected Lightfoot’s "pro-crime agenda," which has contributed to "deep heartbreak" for families across the city, according to the Republican National Committee.

"Joe Biden and Democrats can try to twist their record all they want, but voters will not forget their abject failure on keeping families safe," RNC spokeswoman Rachel Lee told the Washington Examiner.

But former Maryland Democratic Attorney General Douglas Gansler remains adamant only a "handful" of "fringe" Democrats embrace the idea of, for example, "defunding the police."

"Most Democrats support the police and would like to see meaningful reform," he said. "Crime in cities like Chicago is a very real problem, and until Democrats recognize that supporting police and significantly reducing crime are two sides of the same coin, mayors like Lori Lightfoot will continue to be ousted at the ballot box."

Democratic strategist Stefan Hankin agreed the "defund the police" slogan is "not a great phrase from a marketing perspective" but contended, "We need to rethink how we're allocating funding to our police systems and changing the way that communities are being dealt with when it comes to law enforcement." Hankin also argued Republicans underscoring crime is an overture to white suburban voters before 2024.

"That's not to diminish people wanting to feel safe," he said. "Some crime numbers are up, to be sure. But this is a bigger societal problem than just should we give the police more money or should we not."

Biden will collaborate with whomever Chicago voters choose to represent them, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who referenced Biden's "safer communities plan," a diluted iteration of which cleared Congress last summer, in addition to a criminal justice reform-focused executive order. She, too, repeated that the president had "[inherited] a rise of crime" and that Republicans themselves have advocated "defunding the FBI" after the raid of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago private resort.

"Let's not forget, in that plan, he calls for more than 100,000 police officers to go into the community, to work with communities, and make sure that communities feel safe, families feel safe," Jean-Pierre told reporters this week. "And you'll see his commitment to [fighting] crime in his budget next week."

Simultaneously, congressional Republicans have been pushing Biden and Democrats on the issue of crime as they try to repeal reforms to Washington, D.C.'s criminal code. After Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) endorsed the GOP proposal, Biden backed the measure. Washington Mayor Muriel Bower had previously voiced her opposition to the reforms, but her veto was overruled by the D.C. Council.

"I support D.C. Statehood and home-rule — but I don’t support some of the changes D.C. Council put forward over the mayor’s objections — such as lowering penalties for carjackings," Biden tweeted.

Lightfoot, the first openly lesbian black woman to serve as mayor of a major U.S. city, lost her reelection bid in the first round of voting. Former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas, a centrist white candidate who would add another 2,000 police officers to the force, is the leading candidate after the first round. The second candidate is Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, a black grassroots organizer and onetime educator who would replace select officers with social workers. Past mayoral races in New York City, Atlanta, and San Francisco have resulted in more centrists Democrats outperforming progressive activists because of public safety concerns.

During his State of the Union address, to which he invited the parents of Tyre Nichols, the black man beaten to death by former black Memphis, Tennessee, police officers, Biden did not reiterate how he prioritizes "funding the police." Instead, he insisted the country had "to do better" and assist police "to succeed" in keeping the community safe, acknowledging that "we ask much too much of [officers]" while asserting they should be held "to higher standards."

"We also need more first responders and professionals to address the growing mental health, substance abuse challenges," he said, "more resources to reduce violent crime and gun crime, more community intervention programs, more investments in housing, education, and job training. All this can help prevent violence in the first place."

At the same time, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) has criticized Biden for his lack of criminal justice reform, saying the president has not been a leader on the issue.

"We need him to provide historic leadership in this moment. And when I say 'historic,' I'm talking Roosevelt- and Lincoln-type historic leadership on this issue and so many others," Bowman said this month.

"You want to make us safer?" he asked. "Invest in... ending poverty. Invest in housing. Invest in climate. Invest in education... What we're doing is adding more police and feeding the prison industrial complex, and that has to stop."