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Chicago Mayoral Race 2027

Chicago Mayoral Race 2027

As of Oct 30, 2026

Overview

Chicago elects a mayor on Feb. 23, 2027, with a runoff Apr. 6 if no one wins a majority. Petition filing closed Mon Oct 26. Sixteen candidates filed, including incumbent Brandon Johnson, according to the Chicago Board of Elections. The field will likely shrink: objections to petitions can be filed Oct 27–Nov 2, and the ballot is certified Dec 17. Each candidate needs 12,500 valid signatures. Mail ballots and early voting begin Jan. 14.

Candidates

Alexi Giannoulias

IL Secretary of State

Status: Filed petitions Oct 19 (about 60,000 signatures, self-reported)

Cash on hand: $19,152,632 (as of Sept 30, 2026)

Endorsements: SEIU Locals 1 & 73; building-trades unions; Liam Stanton when he left the race in August (reported by CBS2, ABC7, Block Club)

Positions: Affordability, safety, universal pre-K, a $22 minimum wage by 2032, housing (reported by CBS, Axios, Block Club). Called Johnson’s FY27 budget a “big spending, big taxing, and big borrowing backbreaker” (reported by CBS2). Contracting/transit/airports: no sourced platform yet.

Brandon Johnson

Mayor (incumbent)

Status: Filed petitions Fri Oct 23 (33,000 signatures, self-reported); says he will not challenge rivals’ petitions

Cash on hand: $379,471 (as of Sept 30, 2026)

Endorsements: Chicago Teachers Union

Positions: His $17.6B “Fair Share” 2027 budget is his re-election platform: corporate head tax, higher lease/cloud tax, packaging tax, sports-betting tax hike, settlement borrowing, property-tax freeze. Council hearings began Oct 26.

Susana Mendoza

IL Comptroller

Status: Filed petitions Mon Oct 26 (26,000 signatures, self-reported)

Cash on hand: $1,728,015 (as of Sept 30; reported by NBC5, ABC7)

Endorsements: None found

Positions: At an Oct 28 City Club speech she said the head tax “kills jobs.” She opposed the $480M borrowing and the lease/cloud-tax hike, pledged to cut housing permit timelines in half, and named Black unemployment a top priority (reported by Sun-Times).

Mike Quigley

U.S. Rep., IL-5

Status: Filed petitions Oct 19 (42,000 signatures, self-reported)

Cash on hand: $343,482 (as of Sept 30; reported by NBC5)

Endorsements: None found

Positions: Pension reform and budget efficiencies (reported by Block Club). Said Johnson’s budget “drives jobs away” and piles on debt (reported by CBS2).

Maria Pappas

Cook County Treasurer

Status: Filed petitions Mon Oct 26 (nearly 40,000 signatures, self-reported); says she will formally announce after Nov 3

Cash on hand: Not found

Endorsements: None found

Positions: Budget-transparency record as treasurer (reported by NBC5, Block Club). City platform not yet published.

John Kelly

Lobbyist

Status: Filed petitions Oct 19 (36,000 signatures, self-reported)

Cash on hand: About $2.5M (as of Sept 30; reported by ABC7)

Endorsements: None found

Positions: Public safety: more police on the CTA, 1,000+ new officers, ShotSpotter (reported by Block Club). Says he has de-registered as a City Hall lobbyist.

Joe Holberg

Entrepreneur

Status: Filed petitions Mon Oct 26 (about 32,000 signatures, self-reported)

Cash on hand: $1,059,551 (as of Sept 30; reported by NBC5, ABC7)

Endorsements: None found

Positions: Freeze and lower property taxes; 100,000 new housing units (reported by Block Club).

George Cardenas

Cook County Board of Review

Status: Filed petitions Mon Oct 26 (about 31,500 signatures, self-reported)

Cash on hand: $106,174 (as of Sept 30; reported by NBC5)

Endorsements: None found

Positions: His platform proposes procurement reform: payment verification on all contracts over $1M and a 100-day contract plan: a freeze on large professional-services awards on Day 1, triage of contracts over $1M by Day 15, termination of underperforming contracts by Day 45, and a vendor scorecard by Day 100 (campaign document).

Willie Wilson

Businessman

Status: Filed petitions Oct 19

Cash on hand: $48,453.92 (as of Sept 30; per his state filing). He reported a new $100,000 loan to his campaign on Oct 27 (state A-1 filing)

Endorsements: None found

Positions: Jobs and red-tape cuts, trade-skills training, affordable housing, pensions (reported by NBC5).

Matt Brewer

CHA commissioner

Status: Filed petitions Oct 19

Cash on hand: Not found

Endorsements: None found

Positions: Economic growth plus community investment (reported by NBC5, Block Club). Forums: Lincoln Forum Nov 5; City Club Nov 17.

Others

Lisa Nee, Bill Quinlan, Zoe Ma, Danielle Carter-Walters, John Kitover, Jessica “Jesse” Maronto

Status: All filed petitions Oct 26 per the Chicago Board of Elections. Kitover and Maronto have said they expect to run as write-in candidates (reported by Axios, NBC5, Block Club). Toni Brooks did not file. Liam Stanton withdrew in August.

Cash on hand: See tracker

Endorsements: —

Positions: See tracker

Key dates

  • Oct 19–26, 2026: Petition filing period (closed; 16 mayoral filers)
  • Oct 27–Nov 2, 2026: Objection (petition challenge) period
  • Nov 3, 2026: General election (several mayoral candidates are also on this ballot for their current offices)
  • Dec 17, 2026: Ballot certification
  • Dec 31, 2026: City Council deadline to pass 2027 budget
  • Jan 14, 2027: Mail ballots sent; early voting begins
  • Feb 23, 2027: Municipal election
  • Apr 6, 2027: Runoff, if no one wins a majority

Latest updates

  • Oct 29: NBC5 reported that at least one rival could challenge Mayor Johnson’s nominating petitions, citing what NBC5 described as nearly 100 photocopied pages; NBC5 noted that Chicago requires original signatures. Johnson’s campaign said a few copies may have slipped in but that he has more than enough signatures. No objection had been filed as of the morning of Oct 30; the deadline is Mon Nov 2. Johnson also told WTTW that asking corporations to pay more is “a reasonable expectation.”
  • Oct 28: Mendoza laid out a business-focused “growth plan” at City Club (reported by Sun-Times).
  • Oct 27: The objection period opened. No filed objection against a mayoral candidate had been reported as of the morning of Oct 30.
  • Oct 26: Filing closed with 16 mayoral candidates (Chicago Board of Elections; reported by WTTW, Sun-Times, Axios, CBS2, NBC5). City Council budget hearings began. The 29-alder bloc again called the head tax dead on arrival (reported by Sun-Times, ABC7, CBS2).
  • Oct 23: Johnson filed his petitions, saying he had 33,000 signatures.
  • No new public poll since the Oct 19 Mansueto/NORC survey (Giannoulias 25%, Johnson 13.6%, Mendoza 9.5%, Wilson 6%, unsure 34%). No new endorsements Oct 23–29.

Why it matters for Chicago contracting

  • Procurement: Cardenas has the first published candidate procurement plan, from his own campaign document. It calls for payment verification on all contracts over $1M, a freeze on large professional-services awards on Day 1, and a triage of contracts over $1M by Day 15 and termination of underperforming contracts by Day 45, within a 100-day plan. Other candidates have not published procurement plans.
  • Procurement hearing: The Department of Procurement Services is scheduled to defend its 2027 budget before the Council’s Budget Committee on Mon Nov 9.
  • Budget: The proposed lease/cloud tax would rise from 15% to 20%, and Sun-Times reports the earlier two-year freeze was dropped. The head tax would be $25 per employee per month at firms with 125+ workers. Hearings run to about Nov 10 and the budget deadline is Dec 31, so vendors should plan for late certainty on costs and payment timing.
  • DBE/M/WBE: No candidate has a sourced minority-contracting program yet. Mendoza mentioned a program to lower small-business costs but gave no detail.
  • Infrastructure: Building-trades unions are Giannoulias’s largest donors. Mendoza and Holberg emphasize faster permitting and more housing construction.
  • CTA: Kelly proposes more police on the CTA. No other candidate transit platforms are sourced.
  • Airports: No candidate has a sourced O’Hare/Midway position yet.

Sources

  • See for the full keyed list (2026-10-29 pass accessed Oct 29–30, 2026 CT).
  • Primary opened outlets this pass include: Chicago Board of Elections candidate filing report, Illinois State Board of Elections A-1 filings, WTTW, Chicago Sun-Times, Axios Chicago, CBS2, ABC7, NBC5, FOX32, Block Club Chicago, Capitol Fax, City Club Chicago, Lincoln Forum.