2023 Chicago mayoral election

An election for Mayor of Chicago was held on February 28, 2023. Since neither candidate achieved a majority of votes, a runoff election was held on April 4, 2023. Mayor Lori Lightfoot ran for a second term in office since there are no term limits for the office, however lost in the first round of the election, becoming the first one-term Chicago mayor in 40 years.

The runoff was between Paul Vallas, the former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, and Brandon Johnson, a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners.

The election is officially non-partisan, with its winner being elected to a four-year term.

Brandon Johnson defeated Paul Vallas in the runoff election, winning 51% of the vote.

### Run-off candidates

- Brandon Johnson, Cook County commissioner for the 1st District since 2018
- Paul Vallas, former Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Public Schools, candidate for Governor in 2002, and candidate for Mayor in 2019

### Candidates eliminated in the first round

- Kam Buckner, state representative since 2019
- Frederick Collins, CPD officer
- Chuy Garcia, U.S. Representative from Illinois's 4th congressional district since 2019 and runner-up for mayor in 2015
- Ja'Mal Green, marketing executive, community activist, and candidate for mayor in 2019
- Sophia King, Chicago City Council member for the 4th ward since 2016
- Lori Lightfoot, incumbent Mayor since 2019
- Roderick Sawyer, Chicago alderman for the 6th ward since 2011
- Willie Wilson, businessman, candidate for mayor of Chicago in 2015 and 2019, for President of the United States in 2016, for United States Senator in 2020

### Withdrawn

- John Catanzara, Union President of Lodge 7 of the Fraternal Order of Police
- Raymond Lopez, member of the Chicago City Council from the 15th ward since 2015 _(running for reelection)_

### Declined

- Arne Duncan, former United States Secretary of Education (2009–2016) and Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Public Schools (2001–2009)
- Brian Hopkins, Chicago City Council member from the 2nd Ward (2015–present)
- Janice Jackson, former Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Public Schools
- Tom Tunney, Chicago City Council member from the 44th Ward (2003–present) and vice-mayor (2019–present)
- Mike Quigley, U.S. Representative from Illinois's 5th congressional district since 2009
- Pat Quinn, former Governor of Illinois (2009–2015)
- Anna Valencia, Chicago City Clerk since 2017 and candidate for Illinois Secretary of State in 2022 _(running for re-election)_

## Polling

|Pollster|Pollster's rating from 538|Poll sponsor|Date(s) administered|Sample size|Margin of error|style="width:60px;"|Brandon Johnson|style="width:60px;"|Paul Vallas|Undecided|||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|style="text-align:left;"|Victory Research|B/C||March 31–April 2, 2023|900 (LV)|± 3.27%|45.4%||**49.6%**|5%|||
|style="text-align:left;"|Emerson|A-|||March 23–25, 2023|1000 (LV)|± 3%|40.6%||**46.3%**|13%||
|style="text-align:left;"|BSP Research|B/C|||March 15–23, 2023|1500 (LV)|± 2.8%||**44%**||**44%**|12%|
|style="text-align:left;"|Victory Research|B/C||March 20–23, 2023|806 (LV)|± 3.45%|44.2%||**46.3%**|10%|||
|style="text-align:left;"|IZQ Strategies|||March 15–16, 2023|680 (LV)|± 4%||**46%**|44%|10%|||
|style="text-align:left;"|Victory Research|B/C||March 6–9, 2023|806 (LV)|± 3.45%|39.1%||**44.9%**|16%|||
|style="text-align:left;"|Lake Research Partners|A/B|Johnson campaign|March 2–7, 2023|800 (LV)|± 3.46%||**45%**|40%|14%|||
|style="text-align:left;"|1983 Labs|||March 2–6, 2023|583 (RV)|± 4.06%|32.47%||**43.52%**|24.01%|||
|style="text-align:left;"|||Vallas campaign|March 1–6, 2023|800 (LV)|± 3.5%|38%||**47%**|15%|||
|style="text-align:left;"|1983 Labs|||February 22–25, 2023|1,458 (RV)|± 2.57%|30.75%||**44.13%**|25.12%|||
|style="text-align:left;"|Victory Research|B/C||February 12–15, 2023|806 (LV)|± 3.45%|32.6%||**46.0%**|21.3%|||
|style="text-align:left;"|Mason–Dixon|B/C||January 31–February 3, 2023|625 (RV)|± 4%||**39%**|38%||||

## Infobox (election)

- **election name**: 2023 Chicago mayoral election
- **country**: Chicago
- **type**: presidential
- **ongoing**: no
- **previous election**: 2019 Chicago mayoral election
- **previous year**: 2019
- **next election**: 2027 Chicago mayoral election
- **next year**: _2027_
- **election date**: February 28, 2023 (first round)
April 4, 2023 (runoff)
- **image size**: 150x150px
- **1blank**: First round
- **2blank**: Two-round system, Runoff
- **time zone**: CDT
- **turnout**: 35.85% 0.65pp (first round)
38.67% 5.78pp (second round)
- **candidate1**: **Brandon Johnson**
- **image1**: File:Brandon Johnson (4) (adjusted).jpg
- **colour1**: 25877f
- **1data1**: **122,093**
**21.63%**
- **2data1**: **319,481_
_52.16%**
- **candidate2**: Paul Vallas
- **image2**: Paul Vallas in March 2023 (3x4b) (adjusted1).jpg
- **colour2**: de2d26
- **1data2**: **185,743**
**32.90%**
- **2data2**: 293,033
47.84%
- **image3**: File:Lori Lightfoot (52676677898) (1) (adjusted).jpg
- **candidate3**: Lori Lightfoot
- **colour3**: 756bb1
- **1data3**: 94,890
16.81%
- **2data3**: _Eliminated_
- **image4**: Chuy Garcia official portrait (2).jpg
- **candidate4**: Chuy García
- **colour4**: d95f0e
- **1data4**: 77,222
13.68%
- **2data4**: _Eliminated_
- **image5**: File:Willie Wilson 2015.jpg
- **candidate5**: Willie Wilson (businessman), Willie Wilson
- **colour5**: 31a354
- **1data5**: 51,567
9.13%
- **2data5**: _Eliminated_
- **title**: Mayor
- **before election**: Lori Lightfoot
- **before party**: Illinois Democratic Party
- **after election**: Brandon Johnson
- **after party**: Illinois Democratic Party