14-05-2025
2 years after inauguration, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson says he thinks his poll numbers will bounce back
As Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson marks two years in office this week, he talked about his swings, his misses, and why he thinks his poll numbers will likely rebound.
Currently, Mayor Johnson has strong crime numbers to boast about — a 24% drop in homicides since taking office. But his poll numbers are currently terrible, and some of his handpicked leaders in the City Council even say he is trending toward becoming a one-term mayor.
Mayor Johnson is a big basketball fan, and his term is now at the equivalent of halftime of a game. He was asked if he is leading or trailing?
"I think the people of Chicago are certainly winning," the mayor said. "You cannot argue about safety in this city as we drive violence down. You can't argue that we're not building affordable homes, because we're doing that."
But again, some in the City Council do not agree that Mayor Johnson's term has been a success so far. The mayor's head of the City Council Education and Child Development Committee, Ald. Jeanett Taylor (20th) said she is not sure the mayor can turn it around, and others think he is on track not to win a second term.
"The opinion of our work doesn't just rest on one particular chamber or one individual," Johnson said.
Over the past two years, there been lots of moments.
Early on in his term in 2023, Mayor Johnson had to manage a situation where thousands of migrants were left sleeping on the floors of police stations. He hosted the Democratic National Convention last year. He lost his signature Bring Chicago Home ballot referendum that would have raised the transfer tax on million-dollar homes to fight homelessness was defeated.
The mayor held his own during a grilling on Capitol Hill about sanctuary city policies. He had public fights with Chicago Public Schools chief executive officer Pedro Martinez, and struck a contract with the Chicago Teachers Union.
The mayor also developed a chilly relationship with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, and has seen some brutal poll numbers — some as low as 14% approval.
When asked how he looked at those numbers, Johnson was quick to pivot to his success with reducing violent crime.
"You're asking me as mayor of the City of Chicago to just blow past the fact that violent crime is down in Chicago," Johnson said. "What I'm saying, though, is look, if you want me to spend time thinking about things that that, quite frankly, don't improve the quality of life for people, I'm not going to do that."
The mayor believes as crime numbers remain low, his approval numbers will likely improve.
"I do believe that there is a lag — I get what you're getting at — but eventually, I believe that the lag, that people will catch up to what's actually happening," Johnson said.
As for regrets, he cited just one.
"Look, if there's one thing that I do, you know, regret, that in the midst of me standing up government two years ago — what I didn't do, I didn't do a good enough job at effectively communicating with the very coalition that elected me," Johnson said.
In particular, Johnson has noted on a number of occasions that he has gotten people coming up to him at public events saying they didn't know about his accomplishments and successes — and he is now trying to be a better advocate for his record.
