Paul Vallas enters race for mayor, former CPS chief declares

CHICAGO (CBS) — Declaring “Chicago is burning,” former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas announced Wednesday he is making his second bid for mayor, blasting incumbent Lori Lightfoot’s handling of crime, education, taxes, and more.

“Chicago Public Schools aren’t putting students first. Lead in our water is poisoning children. Sky-high property taxes are driving people out of their homes. Violent crime is rampant. Chicago is burning,” Vallas said in a campaign announcement on YouTube. “When the people in power are too incompetent, combatant, or corrupt to tackle these challenges, that’s how a great city can fall.”

Vallas, who endorsed Lightfoot in the 2019 mayoral runoff election, after finishing ninth out of 14 candidates in the first round, has since emerged as one of her most frequent critics. While his campaign announcement makes no mention of her directly, it shows images of her as he laments the current conditions in Chicago.

“I can’t stand seeing our city like this, but no matter how bleak things might seem, Chicagoans will never give up on the city we love; not ever,” he said. “When I’m mayor, police officers will be allowed to do their jobs and arrest law-breakers. Tourists, commuters, and residents will no longer fear coming downtown. Every child will have access to a high-quality education, no much how their parents make or which neighborhood they live in. Chicago will once again be the city that works.”

Vallas, 68, joins at least four other candidates who have announced they plan to run for mayor in 2023: Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th), millionaire businessman Willie Wilson, Illinois State Rep. Kam Buckner, and Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara. 

Lightfoot has yet to formally announce she’s running for a second term, but is expected to kick off her reelection bid soon.

With the filing period for the mayoral election still months away, the field is all but certain to continue growing.

Other potential candidates who have been weighing bids for mayor include Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd), Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th), Chicago Teachers Union vice president Stacy Davis Gates, Illinois State Rep. La Shawn Ford, Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, and community activist Ja’Mal Green.

Two potential candidates, Congressman Mike Quigley and former CPS CEO Arne Duncan, have said they are not running.

The 2023 mayoral election will be held on Feb. 28. If no candidate gets a majority of the vote, the top two finishers will face off in a runoff election on April 4.  

Last year, Vallas helped the Chicago FOP negotiate a new 8-year contract with the city for rank-and-file police officers, who had gone four years without a contract.

Vallas, who ran CPS from 1995 to 2001 under former Mayor Richard M. Daley, also served previously as Daley’s city budget director. After leaving CPS, Vallas also ran public school districts in Philadelphia and New Orleans.

In 2002, Vallas ran for governor of Illinois, but lost to Rod Blagojevich in the Democratic primary. In 2014, he ran for lieutenant governor alongside Gov. Pat Quinn, but they lost to Bruce Rauner and running mate Evelyn Sanguinetti.