1. Brandon Johnson was born on March 27,1976 and is an American politician and educator who is currently serving as the 57th mayor of Chicago since 2023.
51 Facts About Brandon Johnson
1. 2.
Brandon Johnson was first elected to the Cook County Board of Commissioners in 2018 after defeating incumbent Commissioner Richard Boykin in the Democratic primary election and winning the general election unopposed.
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Brandon Johnson was one of ten children born to Andrew and Wilma Jean Johnson.
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Brandon Johnson's father was a pastor and his parents were occasional foster parents.
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When Brandon Johnson was nineteen years old, his mother died of congestive heart failure.
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Brandon Johnson earned a bachelor's degree in youth development and a master's degree in teaching from Aurora University.
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Brandon Johnson worked as a social studies teacher at Jenner Academy Elementary and George Westinghouse College Prep, both part of the Chicago Public Schools system.
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Brandon Johnson became an organizer with the Chicago Teachers Union in 2011, and helped organize the 2012 Chicago teachers strike.
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Brandon Johnson helped lead field campaigns during the 2015 Chicago mayoral and aldermanic elections.
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Brandon Johnson ran against incumbent Richard Boykin in the 2018 election for the Cook County Board of Commissioner's 1st district.
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Brandon Johnson was endorsed by a number of labor organizations and progressive advocacy groups, including the Chicago Teachers Union, Grassroots Illinois Action, The People's Lobby, Our Revolution, and SEIU Locals 1 and 73.
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Brandon Johnson was endorsed by Cook County Board of Commissioners President Toni Preckwinkle.
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Brandon Johnson won the Democratic Party primary election on March 20,2018, defeating Boykin by 0.8 percentage points, and ran unopposed in the general election on November 6,2018.
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Brandon Johnson was sworn in as a Cook County commissioner on December 3,2018.
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Brandon Johnson was the chief sponsor of the Just Housing Ordinance, which amended the county's housing ordinance by prohibiting potential landlords or property owners from asking about or considering prospective tenants' or homebuyers' criminal history.
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In October 2019, Brandon Johnson spoke at a solidarity rally supporting striking teachers and support staff during the 2019 Chicago Public Schools Strike, and wrote supportive letters to the editor in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times.
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Brandon Johnson worked as a paid organizer for CTU, focusing on legislative affairs.
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Politico's Illinois Playbook reported after the strike that Brandon Johnson was rumored as a potential mayoral candidate in the 2023 election; Brandon Johnson responded by calling the rumors "laughable" and criticizing the publication for making a connection between the strike and his electoral career.
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Brandon Johnson endorsed Toni Preckwinkle ahead of the first round of the 2019 Chicago mayoral election.
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Brandon Johnson endorsed Melissa Conyears-Ervin in the 2019 Chicago city treasurer election.
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Brandon Johnson was elected the mayor of Chicago in the city's 2023 mayoral election.
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Brandon Johnson became the first mayor to hail from the city's West Side since the tenure of Anton Cermak in the 1930s.
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Brandon Johnson was sworn in as Chicago's 57th mayor on May 15,2023.
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On September 13,2022, Brandon Johnson launched an exploratory committee to consider running for in the 2023 mayoral election.
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Brandon Johnson's campaign was supported by what Heather Cherone of WTTW News described as a "coalition of progressive groups".
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Brandon Johnson was the beneficiary of Chuy Garcia's decision to wait until after the 2022 United States House of Representatives election to announce his mayoral candidacy, as a number of groups that had supported Garcia 2015 mayoral campaign, such as the Chicago Teachers Union and the United Working Families, grew impatient of waiting for a decision by Garcia on whether he would run and instead pledged their support to Brandon Johnson.
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Brandon Johnson further characterized Garcia as having been absent from work on a number of issues that impacted Latino neighborhoods in the city.
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Brandon Johnson criticized Vallas for ties to Republican Party organizations and figures, as well as his ties to conservative causes, remarking in the first runoff debate, "Chicago cannot afford Republicans like Paul Vallas".
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Brandon Johnson attacked Vallas as having hurt Chicago Public Schools' finances during his tenure as CEO of Chicago Public Schools.
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Vallas accused Brandon Johnson of lacking "substance", accusing him of lacking a significant political record.
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Vallas campaigned on lowering crime while characterizing Brandon Johnson as wanting to "defund the police".
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Vallas and Brandon Johnson agreed that the city should not utilize public money in order to persuade the Chicago Bears football team, which is pursuing a new stadium in the suburb of Arlington Heights, to remain in the city of Chicago.
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Brandon Johnson's victory was described as an upset victory by several media outlets.
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Brandon Johnson became mayor at noon on May 15,2023.
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Brandon Johnson performed strongly in some predominantly white lakeshore areas and in some Hispanic-majority areas northwest of the city's downtown.
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Brandon Johnson had been significantly out-fundraised in the election by Vallas, and outspent by a ratio of nearly 2-to-1.
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Brandon Johnson met in person with Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on April 14,2023.
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Approximately a week after his election, Brandon Johnson joined a picket line alongside striking faculty members at Chicago State University.
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Brandon Johnson was inaugurated at noon on May 15,2023, at the Credit Union 1 Arena.
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In 2024, Brandon Johnson pushed for a 615-unit apartment building on the lot of a former industrial site at 1840 North Marcey Street.
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The alderman in the district, Scott Waguespack, sought to use his aldermanic privilege to block the housing development, but Brandon Johnson pushed to streamline the project and not allow Waguespack to delay or block it.
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In July 2023, Brandon Johnson appointed new members to the Chicago Board of Education, including appointing Jianan Shi as board president.
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In July 2024, Brandon Johnson began suggesting that the school district should take on a new loan in order to cover expenses required to meet the teachers union's demands related to the funding of pensions and contracts.
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Brandon Johnson privately requested Martinez's resignation.
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Rev Brandon Johnson later offered an apology for the offending post.
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Brandon Johnson recognizes the harm those statements have caused, and has expressed his apology and will continue to seek atonement to have the full confidence in every community in the city of Chicago.
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In late November 2023, Brandon Johnson acknowledged that the City of Chicago, with the backing of Illinois governor JB Pritzker, was set to construct a tent city hosting mostly Venezuelan migrants on the Southwest Side.
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On January 31,2024, Brandon Johnson supported a resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza war.
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In October 2024, an Orthodox Jewish man was shot as he walked to his synagogue in West Rogers Park; local Jewish activists and community groups condemned Brandon Johnson for neglecting to acknowledge the shooting victim's Jewish identity, with many speculating he was attempting not to portray the shooting as an antisemitic hate crime.
50.
In March 2023, it was revealed that Brandon Johnson owed the city of Chicago $3,357.04 in unpaid water and sewer charges and additional $1,144.58 in unpaid traffic tickets from 2014 and 2015.
51.
However, Brandon Johnson's debts were confirmed to be paid in full by March 31,2023.