Former mayoral challenger Ja’Mal Green endorses Vallas in runoff; Kwame Raoul first statewide official to back Johnson

Even if you're a Vallas supporter, I don't know how this makes Ja'Mal Green look like anything other than a self-serving clown. He spent the entire primary criticizing Johnson as a fake progressive and not an authentic representative of the progressive movement—only to turn around and endorse the more conservative candidate in the runoff.

If Green really believed in his stated principles & political ideology, supporting Johnson over Vallas (or at least, not endorsing Vallas) would be a no-brainer. The most charitable explanation for this endorsement is that Green just personally dislikes Johnson and resents him for beating him in his political "lane", and wants to stick it to him. The more cynical explanation is that Green expects Vallas to win, and wants to preserve his own proximity to power even if it means betraying the progressive movement.

In any case, I don't expect this to matter one way or another, as most of Green's voters surely are going to Johnson already or not voting in the runoff at all. Looking at Twitter, I'm already seeing a bunch of Green supporters expressing their disbelief and shock at this endorsement.

What a joke.

I am hearing Vallas promised Green a match with Brandon at SummerSlam in exchange for the endorsement.

Mentioned this in the megathread, but important to address here:

I'm assuming this endorsement [Ja'mal's endoresement of vallas] is largely over the public bank they've both called for in the past.

This is one of the points in Vallas' platform that doesn't involve "more cops" that I wish he'd highlight more. The city already owns TEN THOUSAND vacant lots (per bloomberg) that are ready to be returned to the property tax rolls.

Upzoning these lots, making permitting on projects on these lots easier, limiting Aldermanic prerogative to push these projects through, providing low/​no interest loans to residents and perhaps some kind of TIF-supported financing for small projects (e.g. corner stores, larger apartments, etc) would go such a long way to help rebuild the neighborhoods on the S/​W sides after decades, nearly a century even of disinvestment. That is real, concrete change at work.

Why is Ja'Mal Green listed first in this, Raoul seems like a much bigger get?

After securing a series of promises he hopes will improve the lives of African Americans, vanquished mayoral challenger Ja’Mal Green on Wednesday endorsed Paul Vallas over Brandon Johnson in the April 4 mayoral runoff.

‘The former two-time mayoral challenger hedged when asked whether the 69-year-old candidate he affectionately called a “grandpa figure” had promised him a job heading any of those new offices.

“We talked about continuing to work together when he’s mayor. It’s about getting him over the finish line. I’ll be there to support him. If there’s an opportunity that arises, then it will. But we talked about just continuing to work together on these issues. He wants me to advise him. Right now, I want to be a senior adviser to advise him on community and policy. Then, we’ll go from there,” Green said.’

Everyone in the comments leaving out this part. Vallas is very strongly alluding he’ll get Green a job. Laughable.

Green, in making his pick, once again denounced Johnson as a “fraud” trying to “use” his family’s home in the West Side’s crime-ridden Austin community to his advantage.

“As someone who is trying to portray himself as like he’s super-Black and had these experiences, he has been disconnected from the Black community the whole time he’s been in Chicago for the last 15 years, since he moved from Elgin. That’s why I took that personal,” Green said.

“As somebody who is actually from the community who is experiencing these problems, who is dealing with gun violence and at-risk youth, it’s personal to me when people use that suffering and pain and disinvestment for their use when they really haven’t experienced it and they really haven’t fought to make it better.”

Green is echoing his criticism of Johnson from just before the election. He’s not wrong. In fact Johnson’s County district base of voters is in Oak Park, not Chicago’s Austin community.

”Green said he met with Johnson before choosing Vallas and came away convinced Johnson is “beholden” to the Chicago Teachers Union and Democratic Chairman Toni Preckwinkle.

Green is correct here as well & it explains the endorsement of Raoul, who like Johnson is also a creature of Preckwinkle, who selected Raoul to replace Obama in the Illinois Senate when Obama won the US Senate seat. And Johnson was Preckwinkle’s pick for the County Board seat held by Richard Boykin who she targeted for defeat.

Green has always held a personal grudge against Johnson (for who knows what). Even though his platform has more in common with Johnson than it does with Vallas, his bitterness wouldn’t allow him to swallow his pride and work with Johnson to collaborate on fulfilling those platform goals. It illustrates how the issues really don’t matter to him, only his personal ambition.

I always find it interesting how quickly people turn on someone based on an endorsement.

From what I gathered, people loved Jesse White. Then he endorsed Vallas, and all of a sudden certain people hate him now.

Same with Green. He was fine before, now people have all of these issues with him.

If it takes so little for your opinion of someone to change, maybe you are the fickle one.

Also, as an aside, its possible to ideologically agree with someone, and still think they'd be bad at a job. I have many coworkers who I ideologically agree on regarding what our company does badly, but who also I would in no way want to run my department.

Green said he met with Johnson before choosing Vallas and came away convinced Johnson is “beholden” to the Chicago Teachers Union and Democratic Cook County Board Chair Toni Preckwinkle.

And who is Vallas beholden to!?

Wow, I'm legitimately stunned into reconsidering my support, and I voted Johnson in the original election.

No one’s campaign vision will amount to much in the real world budget problems this city has. Consumers are apt to a dopamine rush anytime “New” or “New and improved” is imprinted on a label. Remember the excitement of voters who pushed Lightfoot over the line in 2019 over a more level headed (but known, not “New”) proven administrator, in Preckwinkle.

Supporters of either candidate will end up highly disappointed by next Fall or Winter. Probably earlier. Neither candidate has shown how they’re going to implement the real world challenges voters are dealing with within the confines of a minuscule budget.

Both visions, progressive socialism (tax the rich) or tough on crime (more police) are only going to make less room for changes in other areas.

In addition, I’m wary of the dangers of consolidating too much power into the hands of a single constituency. As we’ve seen in past few decades prior to Rahm. We need diverse leadership that represents and prioritizes the needs of all Chicagoans, not just a select in-group. Can’t go down that road again, Chicago.

Man he’s been teasing this announcement for the past couple weeks. Seeing him arguing on Twitter with people is idiotic at this point. I think he said privileged white progressives are the ones that are going to be mad. Someone called him out saying not everyone is a privileged white progressive. Ja’mal said you may not be white, but you’re very privileged and that you never supported black youth.

This is such a weird spiral.

For all that say Vallas will be a thorn in city halls side, this pretty fairly shows his willingness to work with community members for a common good. Vallas 2023

Jamal Green accurately portrays him as a fraud. Realist portion of the story.

I was wondering where Johnson got the head tax idea from and then saw he was literally doing it to current CPS teachers. Him and the CTU collaborated to charge them an 8 dollars per teacher head tax to be collected straight from their union dues into his campaing coffers. This guy is outrageous.

https://www.politico.com/​f/?id=00000186-c61d-d147-a7f7-ce3f67990000&nname=illinois-playbook&nid=00000150-1596-d4ac-a1d4-179e288b0000&nrid=fd26d771-53f4-408e-971f-9a6c6057372f&nlid=639163

Seems a lot of people are endorsing Vallas… I’m still not sure how I feel about either candidate right now.