{"id":799997,"date":"2026-08-02T21:54:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T21:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/799997\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T21:54:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T21:54:11","slug":"joining-mayors-race-giannoulias-casts-himself-as-a-coalition-builder-says-johnson-has-not-met-the-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/799997\/","title":{"rendered":"Joining mayor’s race, Giannoulias casts himself as a coalition builder, says Johnson \u2018has not met the moment\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taking aim at Mayor Brandon Johnson\u2019s revolving door of senior leadership, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias joined the race for mayor<\/a> Sunday, portraying himself as the coalition builder needed to solve Chicago\u2019s enormous problems.<\/p>\n

Giannoulias enters the race as a presumed frontrunner with a political target on his back after raising $22 million from business leaders and building trade unions.<\/p>\n

At the risk of biting the hand that fed his campaign, Giannoulias vowed to support the millionaires tax that Johnson has also championed.<\/p>\n

But unlike Johnson, who has used previous budgets to shrink the Chicago Police Department by attrition, Giannoulias promised to hire 1,000 additional Chicago police officers by 2030 and bring back ShotSpotter, the gunshot technology contract that Johnson canceled. Johnson has criticized the effectiveness of ShotSpotter and said he wanted to devote spending toward preventive measures.<\/p>\n

Giannoulias argued that Johnson\u2019s leadership \u201chas not met the moment,\u201d even though \u201chis heart\u2019s in the right place.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Mayor<\/p>\n

Mayor Brandon Johnson checks screens during a recent City Council vote at City Hall in the Loop. He has yet to say whether he will run for mayor again.<\/p>\n

At a campaign launch event Sunday, a medley of Chicago-themed music played, including \u201cSweet Home Chicago\u201d and Djo\u2019s \u201cEnd of Beginning,\u201d as supporters filed in to the IBEW Local 134 HQ in Bronzeville. Among the sea of those wearing orange \u201cLiUNA Local 1001 for Alexi\u201d shirts were Alds. Felix Cardona Jr. (31st), Emma Mitts (37th), Timmy Knudsen (43rd), Michelle Harris (8th) and Brian Hopkins (2nd).<\/p>\n

While Giannoulias didn\u2019t get into specifics on the key ideas he laid out in an announcement video Sunday \u2014 universal pre-K, property tax reform and raising the minimum wage \u2014 he told the crowd that he believes \u201cfundamentally that government can be competent and compassionate, and that\u2019s what I will bring to City Hall.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m asking you to believe again \u2014 to believe government can once again be worthy of the people it serves,\u201d he said. \u201cTogether we will write the next chapter of the greatest city in the world, so let\u2019s do this together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giannoulias told the Chicago Sun-Times in a recent wide-ranging interview that Johnson\u2019s \u201cadministration has become a revolving door of senior leadership, making it harder for the city to get things done, reducing confidence in the city \u2014 and the whole world sees it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Effective leadership requires \u201cforming coalitions and working with people,\u201d and Johnson is \u201cfailing at this,\u201d Giannoulias said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJousting with the governor. Making demands at the end of session rather than working earlier to develop policy and build support\u2026 His attempt to raise property taxes was rejected by the City Council 50-to-0 and the City Council passed a budget 29-to-19 when he failed to back off the job-killing corporate head tax<\/a>,\u201d Giannoulias said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA mayor who cannot move an agenda through Springfield and City Council is having difficulty\u2026 looking out for the interest of Chicagoans.\u201d<\/p>\n

The abrupt resignation <\/a>of the city\u2019s chief financial officer, Steve Mahr, and his top deputy \u2014 just as Chicago prepares to host a crucial investors conference and the City Council gears up for a grueling election year budget season \u2014 is the most recent example of the \u201crevolving door\u201d at Johnson\u2019s City Hall, Giannoulias said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe hired a longtime veteran of the city in Rich Guidice to have a steady hand when he got elected, and he left less than a year into the administration. Police Superintendent [Larry] Snelling resigned with less than a year left in this administration, which is the most challenging time of year for the police,\u201d Giannoulias said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree sister agencies went without a leader for more than a year: CPS, CHA and CTA. And after going nearly ten years without a credit downgrade, Chicago has\u2026 been downgraded by three rating agencies in just over a three-year period.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Secretary<\/p>\n

Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias speaks to the press after announcing his run for mayor.<\/p>\n

Candace Dane Chambers\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

Giannoulias condemned as \u201cdangerously irresponsible\u201d the Chicago Board of Education\u2019s decision<\/a> to roll the dice and approve a nearly $10 billion budget that counts on $150 million from Springfield. The board did so against the wishes of CPS Supt. Macquline King, though her proposal \u2014 and the version that the board passed \u2014 also counted on a $285 million tax increment financing surplus that the City Council has not approved.<\/p>\n

Giannoulias called it yet another sign that the Chicago Teachers Union, which bankrolled and staffed Johnson\u2019s 2023 mayoral campaign, is calling the shots in his administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of adopting the [Chicago Public Schools] CEO\u2019s proposed budget, which included some staffing cuts, the CTU-linked members jammed through this alternative budget, which avoids any hard choices about structural changes. That\u2019s not leadership,\u201d Giannoulias said. \u201cI will work with the board president to advocate for more funding. But we have to start with a more responsible budget\u2026 Glittery possible revenue is not responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prospect of school closings<\/p>\n

Giannoulias said a more responsible school budget must confront the financial elephant in the room \u2014 145 schools with more empty seats than students.<\/p>\n

If elected mayor, he\u2019s vowing to tackle that problem, but with a community- and parent-driven process \u201cpaired with real investment in students and staff… not closures imposed from downtown with little notice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPast closures, particularly in 2013, were handled in a way that broke trust with Black and Latino communities, and that history can\u2019t be ignored or repeated,\u201d Giannoulias said.<\/p>\n

Johnson points to former Mayor Rahm Emanuel\u2019s decision to close 50 schools in one fell swoop in 2013 as an example of glaring disinvestment in South and West Side communities.<\/p>\n

But at the risk of being portrayed as Emanuel 2.0, Giannoulias said, \u201cYou have to make tough decisions\u2026 A school with too few students cannot offer the full range of programs\u2026 The student experience is not the same. It\u2019s not a healthy environment for 70 or 80 students to be in a school that was built for 1,500. It\u2019s not good for anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Secretary<\/p>\n

Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias launched his mayoral campaign by taking shots at Mayor Brandon Johnson\u2019s first three years in office.<\/p>\n

Candace Dane Chambers\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

A former state treasurer, Giannoulias got his start in politics as a basketball-playing buddy of Barack Obama. He played professional basketball in Greece, where he learned valuable lessons about competitiveness, teamwork and how to, as he put it, \u201csurround yourself with players that are better than you so that you can get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no surprise, then, that former two-term president is Giannoulias\u2019 political mentor and role model.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat he did outstandingly well \u2014 and the lesson he taught me at every step for every office he ran, he said, \u2018Make sure you surround yourself with people who are way smarter than you at every stop of the way.\u2019 That\u2019s been like buried in my brain,\u201d Giannoulias said. \u201cI look for the most capable, talented people who have an inherent understanding of that particular challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giannoulias, 50, has four daughters under the age of 10. He said he and his wife struggled with the decision to dive into a grueling campaign for a \u201cbrutal\u201d job with greatly diminished powers, enormous problems and no easy solutions.<\/p>\n

Chicago is facing a $90 million mid-year shortfall, a $1 billion-plus budget gap in 2027 and a $36 billion pension crisis with two of the four city employee pension funds hovering dangerously close to bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

A \u2018very tough\u2019 decision<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really difficult when you have four little girls that you love with all your heart and you want to spend time with them. [It\u2019s] very personal, very tough for me,\u201d Giannoulias said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I love this city and I care about this city, and I want them to see their father working to be part of the solution. As cheesy and idealistic as it sounds, I want them to look up and say, \u2018One day when the city was struggling, my dad was one of the many, many people who did his best in a transparent and an honest way to fight for this city.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

With only $631,309 in his campaign fund to nearly $22 million for Giannoulias, Johnson is leaning heavily on social media and on the power of incumbency, along with the free media that comes with it.<\/p>\n

He is expected to portray Giannoulias as a repeat of Emanuel \u2014 a captive of the very people who would be most affected by the embattled mayor\u2019s mantra to \u201ctax the rich.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giannoulias hopes to blunt some of those attacks by joining Johnson in the campaigning for a 3% tax on annual income over $1 million. <\/p>\n

But he knows that won\u2019t blunt the political arrows coming his way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a big boy. I can take it,\u201d Giannoulias said.<\/p>\n

Contributing: Violet Miller<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taking aim at Mayor Brandon Johnson\u2019s revolving door of senior leadership, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias joined…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":799998,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-799997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=799997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/799998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}