After the defeat of Lori Lightfoot in the Chicago mayoral race, fellow candidates Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson moved to an April 4 runoff after no one surpassed the 50% threshold to win election outright.
Vallas, who is the highest vote getter, publicly took a pro-law enforcement stance during the race after Lightfoot criticized police and supported the “defund-the-police” movement.
He is also endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police and served as an advisor during negotiations with city government.
Johnson, the second-highest vote getter, has called the defund-the-police movement not just a slogan but a “real political goal” for the city even though crime has skyrocketed there during Lightfoot's term.
“If you get a male version of Lori Lightfoot,” says Bishop E. W. Jackson, “then you're really jumping out of the frying pan right back into the fire."
In a story about Lightfoot's re-election loss, CNN reported violent crimes spiked in 2020 and 2021. Thefts, car-jackings, robberies and burglaries jumped in 2022.
Jackson, the midday show host on American Family Radio, tells AFN he is hopeful the people of Chicago understand a pro-law enforcement mayor will help saves lives in the Windy City. The city’s criminals, he says, will continue with their wave of crime if a new mayor does not support the Chicago Police Department.
“If you elect someone who just brings the same attitude toward law enforcement,” he predicts, “then Chicago is really in trouble.”
