Prospective Chicago Mayoral Candidates Winning the Fundraising Game

The Chicago mayoral race is still nearly a year away, and the official campaign season has yet to begin. But given incumbent Mayor Brandon Johnson’s unpopularity with the electorate over the last few years — a poll last summer put his approval rating at just 26 percent — a field of likely challengers has begun to form.

A recent Suffolk University/Chicago Tribune poll of 500 adult Chicago residents found 34 percent of people viewed Johnson favorably. That was in the middle of the pack of potential challengers, who include Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, and U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley. Unfortunately for Johnson, his unfavorable ratings are much higher than anyone else’s — 44 percent for Johnson versus 12 percent for Quigley, 11 percent for Mendoza, and 7 percent for Giannoulias. Giannoulias also has the highest favorability rating in the poll at 42 percent.

Perhaps just as significant are the fundraising figures.

• Giannoulias, who is running for re-election as secretary of state this fall following an uncontested primary, had $18.3 million in his campaign fund as of mid-April, according to a Chicago Sun-Times report on campaign filings. 
• Mendoza had $1.6 million on hand. 
• Johnson was in third among prospective candidates with $813,125. 

Quigley had $302,637, according to the report. Candidates have until late October to file nominating petitions, and the election is scheduled for Feb. 23, 2027.