Who Is Running For Chicago Mayor?

CHICAGO — The mayor’s race is months away, but a crowded field of potential candidates is already forming to challenge incumbent Mayor Brandon Johnson.

The 2027 mayoral election is Feb. 23. A runoff election will take place April 6 if no candidate garners at least 50 percent of the vote in the first round — a highly likely possibility with so many people expected to run.

To get on the ballot, mayoral candidates need to gather a minimum of 12,500 signatures from registered Chicago voters, a process which cannot formally begin before late July, according to the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. Some candidates will likely see challenges to the validity of their signatures, which could get them tossed from the race.

Several established political names have announced their candidacies for mayor, including outgoing Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, North Side U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley and George Cardenas, former Chicago alderman and current Cook County Board of Review commissioner.

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas has said she’s running, and former Chicago Housing Authority board chair Matt Brewer has announced his candidacy.

Just as important as who has said they are running is who hasn’t — yet. Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, who is running for reelection for his current position this fall, has been widely rumored to be a mayoral contender. Businessman and perennial political candidate Willie Wilson has also said he’s considering jumping in the race.

And then there’s Johnson, who has not said publicly if he plans to run for reelection.

Here are some of the candidates who have announced or are expected to announce campaigns for mayor. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by section. This list will be updated.

Announced Candidates

Matt Brewer

Campaign website

Lawyer and business owner Matt Brewer launched his mayoral campaign a few months after clashing with Johnson this year over a leadership dispute at the Chicago Housing Authority, where Brewer was formerly the board chair and remains a commissioner.

In March, Brewer and a majority of the CHA board defied Johnson by voting to hire Keith Pettigrew as the next CHA chief executive officer over Johnson’s preferred candidate, former Ald. Walter Burnett (27th).

Brewer grew up on the South Side and is a partner at the law firm Bartlit Beck as well as a partial owner of what is arguably Chicago’s most famous hot dog stand: Lincoln Park’s Wieners Circle. In 2023, Brewer and his family also opened Chicago’s first wholly Black-owned cannabis dispensary in Logan Square.

“For too long, we’ve been presented with a false choice about Chicago’s future. We can invest in our people without sacrificing our competitive edge. We can be a city that’s affordable to live, and a great place to do business,” Brewer said in a video launching his campaign.

George Cardenas

Campaign website

Former 12th Ward alderman and current Cook County Board of Review commissioner George Cardenas announced his run for mayor June 16.

Cardenas served on the City Council for 20 years, representing parts of the Southwest Side in the Brighton Park and McKinley Park area. He was first elected to the county’s Board of Review — which reviews property tax assessments — in 2022.

Cardenas immigrated to the United States from Mexico as a child, and he has worked in various corporate roles including at McDonald’s and Tenneco, an automotive components manufacturer.

During his two-decade aldermanic tenure, Cardenas was a reliable vote for mayors Richard M. Daley, Rahm Emanuel and Lori Lightfoot.

Cardenas said he plans to focus on fiscal responsibility and public safety as mayor. His platform calls for cuts to “duplicative programs and services” to save money at City Hall. He also wants to launch a program called “Parenting Matters” that would give financial assistance to “qualified working families” to curb violence among Chicago teenagers.

Read more: Former Ald. George Cardenas Launches Mayoral Bid

Joe Holberg

Campaign website

Businessman Joe Holberg announced his mayoral candidacy in October, months before other candidates.

Holberg started and eventually sold a financial technology company in Chicago and was previously a teacher on the West Side, according to his website.

Holberg’s also been vocal about his experience sleeping in his car during college to afford tuition.

Holberg’s platform includes working to “freeze and lower” property taxes, cut wasteful spending and make it easier to build housing — with a goal of building 100,000 new units, at 25,000 per year, he recently said.

“We’re in a crisis right now. The city’s budget and its finances are a disaster,” Holberg told WBBM Newsradio last year.

Susana Mendoza

Campaign website

One of the most familiar names to Chicago voters will be Susana Mendoza, who has been a fixture in city and state politics for 25 years.

From 2001-2011, Mendoza served six terms as a Democratic state representative. She was then elected twice as Chicago city clerk, the first woman to hold that position, before running in 2016 in a special election for state comptroller.

Mendoza ran for Chicago mayor in 2019 among a crowded field of candidates. She ultimately came in fifth with 9 percent of the vote and did not advance to the runoff election, with her campaign damaged by connections to former Ald. Ed Burke (14th), who had been recently federally indicted on corruption charges.

Mendoza said when she announced her candidacy that she was entering the mayoral campaign to address “three major crises” facing the city: “a financial crisis, a public safety crisis and a crisis of confidence that they will get better.”

Mendoza also said she will push to revoke at least some provisions of the SAFE-T Act, the state law that eliminated cash bail and changed some rules around pretrial detention.

Read more: State Comptroller Susana Mendoza Launches Bid For Chicago Mayor: ‘We Deserve Better’

Lisa Nee

Campaign website

Another political newcomer, Lisa Nee is a cardiologist and former whistleblower at the Hines Veterans Administration hospital in the western suburbs. She plans to formally announce her campaign July 7.

Nee grew up in Humboldt Park and worked as a nurse before becoming an interventional cardiologist and later getting an MBA. At Hines, she uncovered “serious deficiencies” in various heart treatments for veterans and became a whistleblower, according to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.

Nee has since worked for various health and biotech companies, according to her LinkedIn.

“I have been on the business side of corporate America, within the federal government. I know what responsibility to a budget means, I know how to lead a team, I know how to look at the transparency of a budget and line items,” Nee told the Fran Spielman Show podcast in June.

Mike Quigley

Campaign website

U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley has represented parts of Chicago’s North Side as well as some northwest suburbs in Congress since 2009 after serving as a Cook County commissioner for over a decade.

In Washington, Quigley has been an outspoken supporter of Ukraine since the country’s full-scale invasion by Russia began in 2022, serving as a co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus.

Quigley has flirted with a bid for Chicago mayor for years but never entered the race. This year, he portrayed Chicago as a “city in crisis” and said he would be the candidate who can make tough decisions that Johnson has avoided, especially around pension reform and finding budget efficiencies.

“I’m trying to be the truth teller, and the truth is, Mayor Johnson didn’t get us into this mess, but it’s equally true that he’s not going to be the one to get us out of it,” Quigley told Block Club at his campaign launch in June, clarifying that the “mess” did not just apply to pensions.

“I’m talking about all the problems with the city of Chicago, financially and otherwise. The fact is, with the greatest respect, he hasn’t shown a willingness to make tough choices to get us out of this situation, but he’s not alone.”

Read more: U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley Uses State Of Uptown Theatre As Metaphor In Mayoral Campaign Kickoff

Liam Stanton

Campaign website

Businessman Liam Stanton grew up in Rogers Park and is a lifelong Chicagoan, according to his website.

An entrepreneur who has launched and worked with various technology businesses, Stanton’s pitched himself as a political outsider who can bring a new perspective to City Hall.

“I think we need fresh eyes to these old problems,” he said during an interview on FOX 32.

Stanton said he supports giving police the ability to establish a snap curfew during a teen takeover, and he would push to amend parts of the SAFE-T Act involving electronic monitoring. He has also advocated for term limits for Chicago politicians and a spending cap on mayoral campaigns, as well as moving municipal elections to November instead of February.

Expected To Run

Alexi Giannoulias

Alexi Giannoulias has been Illinois’ secretary of state since 2023.

Giannoulias served as state treasurer from 2007-2011. He unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 2010, when his campaign was hindered by the collapse of Broadway Bank, which his family had run since the ’70s.

As secretary of state, Giannoulias has overseen Illinois’ transition to Real IDs and offered digital drivers licenses, as well as backed legislation banning book bans at libraries. He’s also been a prolific social media user, with some viral posts — including of him wearing a wet T-shirt at the 2023 Pride parade and annual videos reading aloud rejected vanity plate submissions.

Giannoulias has not said if he plans to run for mayor, but his recent fundraising numbers have pointed to a potential candidacy. His campaign fund has reported more than $18.3 million on hand, even though he ran uncontested in the Democratic secretary of state primary in March.

In comparison, Mendoza’s campaign committee in March reported about $1.6 million, while Johnson had just over $800,000. 

Brandon Johnson

Johnson has repeatedly declined to say if he’s running for reelection, telling Block Club in May that his “focus is still on governance right now.”

The incumbent mayor and former teacher and union organizer has regained some ground after a bruising start in office, according to polls and surveys, although by some counts he remains largely unpopular. Johnson has struggled to advance much of his progressive agenda through City Council amid frayed relationships with alderpeople, who rejected his proposal to establish a corporate head tax under the 2026 city budget.

Still, the mayor has overseen a sharp decline in violent crime numbers across the city, including a 60-year low in homicides in 2025. Crime numbers have ticked back up slightly this year, including during Juneteenth weekend when almost 40 people were shot. His administration has also struggled to combat so-called teen takeovers, some of which have turned violent.

Johnson has been a vocal opponent of President Donald Trump, especially during last year’s Operation Midway Blitz immigration enforcement campaign. He has signed several executive orders aimed at limiting where immigration enforcement can take place and to call on police to “investigate and document” alleged crimes committed by federal agents.

During a press conference held to establish a dedicated city office for gun violence reduction, the mayor did joke about his eventual “third term,” as well as a future mayor who might take over City Hall “12 or 16 years from now.”

But when asked by a reporter if that means he’s indeed running again, Johnson demurred.

“Look, my priority is building safe and affordable communities. The politics and the naysayers — I believe a few years ago, I think I was polling at 2.2 percent — and I think the exact quote was, ‘[Brandon] Johnson will never be mayor, bless his heart,’” Johnson said. “And yet here we are.”

Willie Wilson

Businessman and millionaire Willie Wilson has been a perennial political candidate in Chicago, running for mayor three times, as well as U.S. Senate in Illinois and even president of the United States.

Wilson has become well-known for regularly giving away gas, groceries and even cash to potential voters, despite some questions about the ethics of doing so.

The businessman has proven an ability to garner a sizable vote share in recent elections, although not enough to advance to a runoff. Wilson came in fifth place in the 2023 mayoral race, garnering about 9 percent of the vote. In the 2019 race, he came in fourth, with almost 11 percent of the vote.

In a social media video post, Wilson said he’s setting up a campaign website and asked his followers to send donations via Zelle to gauge potential support.

“Do I have enough money to support my own campaign? Yes, I do. Again, it’s not about that. It’s about people making a commitment,” Wilson said.

Wilson moved to Chicago in the ’60s, starting as a worker at McDonald’s before opening his own franchise. His business empire expanded over the years to include medical supplies.

Others

Danielle Carter-Walters has been a regular presence at City Council meetings in recent years as part of the “Chicago Flips Red” group. She makes frequent appearances on Fox News and has launched a mayoral campaign with promises to create a “Chicago DOGE accountability office” and end the city’s Welcoming City ordinance.

Lobbyist John Kelly has also said he’s weighing a run.