Mayor Brandon Johnson

Brandon Johnson
City of Chicago Office of the Mayor

Brandon Johnson born March 27, 1976, is an American educator and politician serving as the 57th mayor of Chicago. A member of the Democratic Party, Johnson was elected mayor in April 2023. Brandon previously served on the Cook County Board of Commissioners from 2018 to 2023, representing the 1st district.

Johnson was first elected to the Cook County Board of Commissioners in 2018 after defeating incumbent Commissioner Richard Boykin in the Democratic primary election and winning the general election unopposed. Johnson won reelection to the County Board in 2022.

Johnson was elected mayor of Chicago in 2023. In the first round of the election, he and Paul Vallas advanced to a runoff, unseating incumbent mayor Lori Lightfoot. Johnson defeated Vallas in the runoff election and was elected to serve as the 57th mayor of Chicago. Brando is the city’s fourth African American Mayor. Johnson is considered to be a political progressive.

Office of the Mayor City of Chicago

It is hopeless for the occasional visitor to try to keep up with Chicago. She outgrows his prophecies faster than he can make them.” – Mark Twain, 1883 Chicago was only 46 years old when Mark Twain wrote those words, but it had already grown more than 100-fold, from a small trading post at the mouth of the Chicago River into one of the nation’s largest cities, and it wasn’t about to stop. Over the next 20 years, it would quadruple in population, amazing the rest of the world with its ability to repeatedly reinvent itself. And it still hasn’t stopped.

Chicago continues to be a place that many people from diverse backgrounds call home. Before it was a city, it was the home to numerous indigenous peoples, a legacy which continues to frame our relationship with the city, the land, and the environment. Today, Chicago has become a global city, a thriving center of international trade and commerce, and a place where people of every nationality and background come to pursue the American dream.