Politics

How Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas grew into rivals for mayor of Chicago

Despite following very different paths, both now have their sights trained on Chicago’s City Hall.

By Mariah Woelfel, Tessa Weinberg, Tina Sfondeles, Mitchell Armentrout | Chicago Sun-Times

Mar 24, 2023, 10:11am CT

A young Paul Vallas (left) in 1962; Brandon Johnson (right) in grade school. Provided

Politics

How Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas grew into rivals for mayor of Chicago

Despite following very different paths, both now have their sights trained on Chicago’s City Hall.

By Mariah Woelfel, Tessa Weinberg, Tina Sfondeles, Mitchell Armentrout | Chicago Sun-Times

Mar 24, 2023, 10:11am CT

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.

With the opening of early voting earlier this week as the April 4 runoff draws closer, the Sun-Times and WBEZ have teamed up to take an in-depth look into the lives and careers of the two men vying to be Chicago’s next mayor.

One of them started out as a boy in Roseland before moving with his family to the southwest suburbs. The other was raised in far west suburban Elgin before moving to Chicago’s West Side after he married.

Despite following very different paths, both now have their sights trained on Chicago’s City Hall. Below, check out detailed profiles on the respective backgrounds of Johnson and Vallas from WBEZ and Sun-Times reporters.