Cook County Board Commissioner Brandon Johnson was taken to task this week for past supportive comments about the "defund the police" movement as crime and public safety concerns hang over the Chicago mayoral race.
Johnson, a liberal endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union, argued in a series of appearances on Tuesday and Wednesday that his position on policing had not changed since he made a number of favorable remarks about the "defund" movement in 2020, when racial justice protests swept the nation in response to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
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Johnson advanced to a runoff in a nonpartisan contest along with Paul Vallas, a conservative Democrat and former public schools chief for the city. Vallas, who is endorsed by the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, has hammered Johnson on his public safety platform.
The two squared off in one of a series of debates Thursday evening, when Vallas and debate moderators pressed the candidate for supporting the "defund" movement. Johnson remained defiant, saying that neither his words nor his positions have changed.
“I’m not going to defund the police, and you know that. You know that," Johnson told Vallas. "I have passed multibillion-dollar budgets, over and over again.
The Cook County commissioner went on to argue that Vallas's proposals to ramp up the hiring of more officers was slow and unrealistic before touting his own plan, which includes promoting 200 new detectives to address violent crimes and enforcing "red flag" laws more vigorously in an effort to reduce gun violence.
“The best way to engender confidence in public safety, you’ve got to catch people,” Johnson said from the debate stage.
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Polls have pegged a tight race between the two, who beat incumbent Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and put an end to her political career. One recent poll conducted by Victory Research found Vallas edging out Johnson 44.9% to 39.1%.
The pair's general election runoff is scheduled for April 4.