Juan González on Chicago Mayoral Race: Can a Progressive, Multiracial Coalition Win?
by webdev@democracynow.org (Democracy Now!) from Democracy Now! on (#6AFMX)
Chicago residents are voting Tuesday in a mayoral runoff election that has been dominated by issues of public safety, with the two leading candidates coming from different ends of the Democratic Party's political spectrum. Brandon Johnson is an organizer with the Chicago Teachers Union and backed by progressive forces in the city, and Paul Vallas is the former head of Chicago Public Schools who is endorsed by the police union. Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez, who lives in Chicago, gives his analysis of the race and why it holds national implications. It raises the question of 'Can a progressive, multiracial coalition capture the mayoralty in the nation's third-largest city, as Harold Washington did so 40 years ago back in 1983?'"