Brandon Johnson

Rule Changes

Vetoed city hemp ban in February 2025

Most Illinois sellers must stop selling hemp-derived THC drinks on Nov. 12, but the state has agreed not to enforce the ban against about 250 businesses involved in a federal lawsuit until Nov. 19. That is when U.S. District Judge Martha Pacold is scheduled to hear their request to block the law.

Updated 8 hours ago

Rule Changes

Facing reelection and Council pressure over gunshot detection

Chicago still has no gunshot-detection system on its streets. On Nov. 9, Mayor Brandon Johnson's administration said it will let every short-listed bidder demonstrate its technology in a six-month pilot across six South and West Side police districts, dropping an earlier single-vendor plan.

Updated Yesterday

Rule Changes

Rode a Chicago Votes bus with DRW College Prep students to the Loop supersite on Oct. 28.

Illinois voters cast about 1.6 million early ballots before Election Day, including more than 900,000 in person and nearly 700,000 by mail, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections. Chicago had nearly 300,000 early votes as of Monday, with more than 180,000 cast in person and more than 100,000 by mail.

Updated 2 days ago

Rule Changes

Half of current school board is appointed by him

Chicago's first fully elected school board remains split after the Nov. 4 election. Union-backed candidates had won or led in nine of 21 seats as of Nov. 5, and the Chicago Teachers Union says it could win as many as 10 of the 20 district seats. Four races are still too close to call.

Updated 5 days ago

Rule Changes

His administration defended the permit denial in court.

A metal shredder built along the Calumet River has sat idle since Chicago denied its operating permit in 2022. On Nov. 6, an Illinois appellate court upheld that denial, keeping the Southside Recycling facility closed and sending the company toward the state's highest court.

Updated 5 days ago

Rule Changes

In office

Chicago voters approved a nonbinding referendum on Tuesday that would tax owners of long-term vacant or undeveloped commercial and investment property to fund Chicago Public Schools. Nearly 74% voted yes, with 163,655 of 624,339 voters opposed.

Updated 5 days ago

Rule Changes

Faces a petition challenge from Willie Wilson's campaign filed Nov. 2; says he will survive it.

Willie Wilson's campaign filed a challenge to Mayor Brandon Johnson's nominating petitions on Nov. 2, arguing that photocopied signatures and unregistered circulators leave him short of the 12,500 valid signatures needed to appear on the ballot. Johnson, the first incumbent to face such a challenge since 2007, filed 33,000 signatures and says he will survive.

Updated Nov 3

Money Moves

Facing a $75 million budget gap after Council defeat.

Chicago's City Council voted 44-6 on Monday to force Mayor Brandon Johnson to use a $75 million parking-meter payment for an extra pension payment this year. The vote blew a $75 million hole in a 2027 budget already balanced with borrowing and tax increases.

Updated Nov 2

Money Moves

Declined his third straight annual raise

All 50 Chicago aldermen accepted the inflation-tied 2027 pay raise, the first time every council member opted in. The 2.3% bump lifts the top aldermanic salary to $159,264 and costs taxpayers almost $200,000 more.

Updated Nov 1

Built World

In office; presided over the groundbreaking

Chicago has broken ground on the first downtown monument in its history dedicated to a historic woman. The 'We Shall Rise' memorial honors Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, the labor organizer who made the city her base.

Updated Nov 1

Built World

Championing South Side investment agenda

Chicago broke ground on two South Side projects on October 21 and 22: a $6.2 million shelter for homeless young adults in Brainerd and a $1.5 million worker-owned snack factory in Chatham. A former motel becomes a 26-unit shelter with private rooms, and a century-old building becomes a nut-free food production hub.

Updated Oct 28

Built World

Backed the Foundry Park TIF package

Chicago officials broke ground October 21 on Foundry Park, a $3 billion plan to turn the former A. Finkl & Sons steel site into homes, parks and a riverwalk along the North Branch of the Chicago River. JDL Development and Kayne Anderson Real Estate bought the northern 31 acres for about $84 million in October 2025. The seller was Bank OZK; the land had been the northern piece of Sterling Bay's Lincoln Yards plan, which never advanced.

Updated Oct 22

Built World

Attended the West Campus reopening

Malcolm X College reopened its West Side satellite campus Oct. 17 after a $20 million renovation that added a 3,000-square-foot community center and room for 50% more students. The building at 4624 W. Madison St. now includes the Danny K. Davis Community Center, named for the congressman whose fundraising the college credits with more than $30 million in student support.

Updated Oct 22

Rule Changes

Proclaimed Feb 19, 2027 as Al Raby Day

Chicago dedicated the 6300 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue as Al Raby Way on Oct. 16, 2026, and Mayor Brandon Johnson proclaimed Feb. 19, 2027, as Al Raby Day. Raby organized the 1963 Freedom Day boycott, when more than 200,000 Chicago students stayed home to protest segregated schools.

Updated Oct 21

Money Moves

In office; said he would explore changing state law to deny Guevara his pension if re-elected

The Chicago City Council voted unanimously on Oct. 14 to pay $260.8 million to 17 men framed by former detective Reynaldo Guevara. The men spent a combined 383 years in prison. City lawyers said a jury trial could have cost more than $1 billion.

Updated Oct 21

Rule Changes

As of May 2026: Co-plaintiff in lawsuit against National Guard deployment

The Supreme Court told President Trump he can't send National Guard troops to Illinois. The 6-3 decision on December 23 marks the first time the modern court has blocked a president from federalizing state Guard units over a governor's objections. Trump claimed protests at an ICE facility in suburban Chicago constituted a rebellion, and the court wasn't buying it.

Updated May 16