Brandon Johnson’s Second Term Dreams May Already Be Dead In The Water, Poll Reveals

Democratic Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s favorability rating dropped to an all-time low this month, according to a new poll.

The blue city mayor’s favorability rating fell to just 6.6% with a 79.9% unfavorable rating, which is significantly lower than that of five other hypothetical candidates for the 2027 Chicago mayoral race, according to a M3 Strategies poll published Feb. 22. The survey’s findings closely follow a number of reports on Chicago residents’ growing disapproval of Johnson’s handling of several key issues, including crime and illegal immigration.

When asked who they would vote for if the election for mayor “were held today,” Chicago respondents ranked longtime Illinois politician and former Democratic mayoral candidate Paul Vallas at the top of the list with 27.4%, followed by Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias at 21%, Illinois State Comptroller Susana Mendoza with 11.7% and Johnson with just 8.2% support.

Giannoulias also received a higher favorability rating than Johnson, at 48.6% with a 14.3% unfavorable rating, while Mendoza had a 38% favorability rating and a 14.6% unfavorable rating.

Like Johnson, other lawmakers received similarly low approval ratings, such as Democratic Alderman Bill Conway of Chicago’s 34th ward, who received a favorability rating of just 14.6% and a 12% unfavorable rating, and Democratic Illinois State Rep. Kam Buckner who had a favorability rating of 17.6% and an unfavorable score of 15.4%, according to the poll.

Of those surveyed, 67% said that the top issue facing Chicago was crime, while 54% named high taxes as the biggest concern and 41% said inflation.