Progress report? Election brings mix of cheers and tears for Chicago progressives

Complete coverage of the local and national primary and general election, including results, analysis and voter resources to keep Chicago voters informed.

A progressive wave it was not.

Tuesday’s primary brought a mixed bag for the left-leaning political movement that last year elevated Mayor Brandon Johnson to the fifth floor of City Hall along with the most progressive City Council ever elected — but now could be bracing for the biggest blow yet to its agenda.

In a low-turnout election with thousands of mail ballots that could still be counted, Johnson’s prized “Bring Chicago Home” referendum appears headed for rejection, likely nixing his plan to raise the transfer tax on high-end real estate transactions to address homelessness.

And with the Chicago Teachers Union-backed Clayton Harris III narrowly trailing Eileen O’Neill Burke in the still undecided Cook County state’s attorney’s race, it was more stress than celebration on Wednesday for many in progressive circles.

Johnson, a former CTU organizer, said during a City Hall news conference that “the fight still goes on” despite the looming “Bring Chicago Home” loss.

“The progressive agenda is not dedicated to one issue. This is the unique thing about running the entire city of Chicago: You get to address everything, and we’re doing that,” he said. “We’re still strong. … I’m grateful that we have a lot of people who are committed to seeing a transformation that propelled me into office.”

While Harris could still eke out the state’s attorney nomination, the CTU saw U.S. Rep. Danny Davis soundly dispatch its chosen candidate in the 7th Congressional District, Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, who finished a distant second in the West Side race.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Johnson endorsed Davis in the race over Conyears-Ervin and the most progressive candidate in the race, activist Kina Collins, who finished third in a disappointing followup to her 2022 challenge, when she got within seven percentage points of Davis.

With three other challengers also on the ballot, Collins’ message didn’t carry far beyond her base in the liberal suburban bastion of Oak Park, according to political strategist Peter Giangreco.

“It becomes a progressive echo chamber, and there’s an inability to grow beyond that,” Giangreco said.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

The race between Harris and O’Neill Burke was largely cast as a referendum on the progressive policies of outgoing Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. O’Neill Burke positioned herself as tougher on crime, but, like Harris, embraced many of Foxx’s ideas and essentially ran on a progressive platform — all leading up to one of the closest races of the primary.

The CTU still saw its endorsed candidates notch a slew of comfortable victories in General Assembly races, along with the renomination of Illinois Supreme Court Justice Joy Virginia Cunningham and Mariyana Spyropoulos’ unseating of Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Iris Martinez.

Their winning list also included former CTU organizers and educators Tara Stamps, who won the nomination to hold Johnson’s former Cook County Board seat, and Graciela Guzmán, who knocked out appointed incumbent Natalie Toro with a $2.5 million campaign fund in the Northwest Side’s 20th District state Senate seat.

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Guzmán said she was “disheartened” by the apparent “Bring Chicago Home” result, but said her own grassroots victory over an opponent backed by Martinez and Illinois Senate President Don Harmon illustrated “a practice and a science that we’ve been honing for more than a decade” as progressives.

“At every level of government, we’ve been able to show progressive values are not only what is favored in the district, but it resonates and can win and lead to concrete policy action at every level,” Guzman said. “I hope that Chicago continues to advance to a progressive place.”

Guzmán’s reliably left-leaning district was highlighted once again in the map of precinct-level results, which showed support for “Bring Chicago Home” and Harris in much of the South and West Sides, as well as lakefront areas far north.

Giangreco pointed out potential cracks in Johnson’s progressive armor on the South Side, as in many 21st Ward precincts where “Bring Chicago Home” was either voted down or the “yes” vote led narrowly. Many of those precincts are ones that Johnson didn’t pick up in last year’s initial round of mayoral voting, but ended up winning in the runoff.

“That’s a huge warning sign,” Giangreco said of those voters potentially turning on the first-term mayor. “You see some of that dynamic in parts of the West Side.”

In a statement, CTU leaders said “we have to knock more doors for the schools and city our students deserve,” while trumpeting electoral “wins that will ensure the voices and lived experiences of students, working families and every folks are centered.”

“Once again, the voters of Chicago underscore the values and priorities that we as a community aspire for our students and their families,” union leaders said.

Contributing: Matthew Hendrickson