How a Young, Black Progressive Won in Chicago

Brandon Johnson's mayoral election could change the national conversation about crime, schools -- and an aging Black establishment in big city politics.

Chicago’s recent mayoral election saw two Democratic candidates–Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas–fight for their very different visions of how the windy city should be run. The race centered debates on crime and schools, issues with inevitable implications on race and class. Chicago-native Natalie Moore, WBEZ’s reporter for race, class and communities, joins host Kai Wright to discuss this election’s significance, and how it reminds her of Harold Washington’s historic election in 1983. 

Then, Kai explores parallels in Democrat-dominated mayoral races from New York and Los Angeles with Christina Greer, professor of political science and American studies at Fordham University.  

Companion listening for this episode: 

Black Georgians Are Leading the Charge to the Polls (10/17/2022)

Young Black voters are the key to changing the politics of Georgia. What can the rest of the country learn from the civic engagement in that state?

“Notes from America” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on notesfromamerica.org or on WNYC’s YouTube channel.

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Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.