Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson launched his campaign for a second term with a 12-second Instagram video showing him dancing on a rooftop in a gray business suit, lip-syncing to Kiesza’s “Hideaway” alongside a group of young supporters, including one wearing an “I [heart] DEI” T-shirt.
The caption over the clip read: “POV: News just dropped that Mayor Brandon Johnson is running for re-election!”
The video quickly drew mockery in the comments. “No solidified plan, just dancing,” one Instagram user wrote. Another said, “This video is just another reason as to why he’s NOT getting our votes.” A third simply asked, “Is this a joke?”
The moment echoes a similarly panned video from Johnson’s predecessor, Lori Lightfoot, who danced in city streets to a drumline during her own 2023 reelection campaign.
A Record Under Scrutiny
Johnson, 50, is seeking a second term as mayor after a tenure marked by a 27% rise in overall crime through 2025 compared with the previous four years, according to Chicago Police statistics, along with a documented increase in antisemitic hate crimes.
Before he was even sworn in, Johnson faced criticism for cautioning against “demonizing” violent “teen takeovers” downtown, incidents in which cars were burned, property was damaged, and crowds of youths clashed with police.
After a violent holiday weekend that left 19 people dead in the city, Johnson held a press conference in which he pointed to history rather than current policy, saying: “Black death has been unfortunately been accepted in this country for a very long time. We had a chance 60 years ago to get at the root causes. And people mocked President Johnson, and we ended up with Richard Nixon.” He did not elaborate on the connection.
The Chicago Commission on Human Relations found a 58% increase in hate crimes against the city’s Jewish community between 2023 and 2024. The Anti-Defamation League and other Jewish organizations have called on Johnson to create an antisemitism task force, but none has been established. The city has, however, formed other task forces, including the Task Force on Missing and Murdered Chicago Women, a Reparations Task Force, and a Task Force on Black Immigrants examining social and economic conditions for black immigrants in Illinois.
In April, Johnson was criticized for linking the restaurant industry to slavery during a fight with the City Council over eliminating the tipped wage. “You just watched the entire city council, in transparency, try to take wages away from the very people who are part of an industry that has its ties to slavery is hiding from that,” he said, adding, “I am boldly declaring that we need reparations in this city, and that’s why I’m funding it.”
Over the summer, Johnson renewed the city’s “Trans Femicide State of Emergency” to draw attention to violence against transgender women, even though the city recorded just one reported killing of a trans person this year compared with nearly 300 other homicides citywide.
Low Approval, Crowded Field
A recent University of Chicago survey found only 13.6% of likely voters want Johnson to run again. He now faces a competitive field ahead of the February 2027 mayoral race, including Chicago Housing Authority CEO Matt Brewer, former alderman George Cardenas, and Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias.
Add comment