Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson to meet with elite Democratic donors in North Carolina

WASHINGTON — In his first trip since being elected, Brandon Johnson, the incoming Chicago mayor, on Tuesday travels to North Carolina to speak to a national network of high-net-worth Democratic donors, the Sun-Times has learned.

Johnson, who will take office May 15, will be in Charlotte to speak at a dinner for members of the Democracy Alliance, one of the most elite — and secretive — groups dedicated to bankrolling progressive causes.

Partners in the Democracy Alliance include major Democratic donors and left-of-center labor unions.

On Wednesday, Johnson makes his debut in Washington, where as mayor-elect he plans to meet with members of the Illinois congressional delegation and other federal officials. It will also be highly likely that if Johnson comes to Washington, he will find himself meeting with Biden administration officials.

Johnson adviser Bill Neidhardt said details about the East Coast swing were still in the works.

After Mayor Lori Lightfoot was elected – but still mayor-elect in May 2019 – she came to Washington for a three-day visit, with a meeting in the Trump White House, where she huddled for about an hour with Ivanka Trump, a senior adviser as well as a presidential daughter. Lightfoot hit Capitol Hill, where she met with, among others, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The Democracy Alliance was founded in 2005, and according to a statement posted on its website, is “a preeminent network of donors dedicated to building the progressive movement in the United States. We play a leading role in fostering the infrastructure necessary to advance a progressive agenda for America. We invest in every aspect of progressive power-building — from policy making to organizing grassroots communities to winning state and national issue and electoral campaigns.”

Johnson, a paid staffer for the Chicago Teachers Union and a Cook County Board member, became a viable candidate for mayor because of the millions of dollars the CTU, the American Federation of Teachers and other unions donated to his campaign.

The Democracy Alliance has been heavily supported by unions. The board chair, according to its website, is John Stocks, a senior adviser to the National Education Association, a union championing public schools.

Other Democracy Alliance board members are Kim Anderson, the NEA’s executive director, and Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.