Brandon Johnson is a Democrat. He is Mayor of Chicago – a city that is so heavily Democrat that it hasn’t had a Republican Mayor since Bill Thompson left in 1931 (that is NOT a typo), and its current city council is comprised of 47 Democrats and 3 independents. Not a Republican to be seen.
It stands to reason, therefore, that Johnson should have a pretty hefty base of support.
But since being elected in 2023, he has fallen so far that the most recent polling shows his approval rating at – again, this is NOT a typo, so help me – 6.6%.
Let me post that again because you have good reason not to believe your eyes the first time. His current approval rating is 6.6%.
And it is not like some monumental event has caused a sudden/probably temporary massive drop in approval. He has been heading in this direction throughout his mayoralty.
From Katherine Fung’s article for Newsweek:
A recent poll from M3 Strategies, conducted between February 20 and 21, showed the Democrat — who is just two years into his tenure — with a 6.6 percent approval, one of the worst showings for any major political figure in the country’s history.
Johnson took office in May 2023. In October of that year, his approval rating was already down to 28 percent. Those numbers fell to 14 percent a year later, and then halved again in the four months since.
According to a Newsweek analysis, the only elected officeholder who has polled worse than Johnson in modern U.S. history is former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, a Democrat who was sitting at just 2 percent approval among Michiganders in 2008. His sharp decline in public approval stemmed from multiple scandals that ultimately led Kilpatrick to resign from office after pleading guilty to felony charges, including obstruction of justice and perjury.
Wow. The only Mayor who did worse was former Detroit Mayor kwame kilpatrick – a man so completely corrupt in so many ways that, after several other convictions/sentences of lesser dimension (which would have gotten you or me years in jail) he was finally sentenced to 28 years in jail.
(Kilpatrick only served about 7 of those years, though: based on his salutary activities while incarcerated – “Mr. Kilpatrick has taught public speaking classes and has led Bible Study groups with his fellow inmates.” – his sentence was commuted by…you ready for this?….then-outgoing President Donald Trump.
I don’t know whether Brandon Johnson is in any legal jeopardy. But I do know that, Kwame Kilpatrick aside, there is no more despised major-city Mayor in the country. Not even close.
Will Johnson run for re-election? That seems laughable right now, doesn’t it? But let’s never forget that this is Chicago. Democrat-only (at least as of now) Chicago.
Keep in mind that Johnson won his election – a runoff election – by just a few points (52% – 48%) over more moderate Democrat Paul Vallas. Does that mean, next time around, that Chicagoans will break free of their partisan chains, reject Johnson, and elect an actual moderate? Maybe even a Republican?
Frankly I doubt it. Old habits die hard.
But with the current Democrat incumbent at 6.6%???? Hey, you never know…
