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.
Brandon Johnson
Paul Vallas
Paul Vallas, candidate for mayor, in a 1962 photo and current. Those who know Vallas tend to agree on some descriptors for the 69-year-old: a “ball of energy” with a deep well of public policy ideas, a sincere desire to benefit different communities — and a temper that can flare upon others who aren’t up to the task.
