Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias formally jumped into the race for Chicago mayor on Sunday, turning a long-rumored candidacy into a full-fledged campaign with a war chest of more than $22 million and a promise to confront the city’s most stubborn problems head-on.
Speaking at a union hall on Chicago’s South Side, Giannoulias called the decision “the toughest career choice I’ve ever made in my life, bar none.” He acknowledged the personal toll, noting that he and his wife struggled with the decision to run for what he called a “brutal” job with diminished powers and enormous challenges. Giannoulias, 50, has four daughters under the age of 10.
The former state treasurer has deep roots in Illinois politics, dating back to his 2006 election as treasurer. He lost a U.S. Senate bid in 2010, but re-emerged in 2022 to win the secretary of state’s office after Jesse White retired. Now he wants to trade that office for the fifth floor of City Hall, positioning his record as his biggest selling point. “Judge me on my record,” he said. “I could not be more proud of the work we’ve done to modernize operations, to streamline services, to bring innovation, to rebuild trust in government.”
Giannoulias enters a crowded field that includes Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, Congressman Mike Quigley, Cook County Board of Review Commissioner George Cardenas, former Chicago Housing Authority CEO Matt Brewer, businessmen Liam Stanton and John Kelly, and Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas. Notably absent from the list is incumbent Mayor Brandon Johnson, who has circulated petitions but has not formally declared. Johnson’s campaign fund stands at just over $631,000, a fraction of Giannoulias’s millions, but the mayor is expected to leverage the power of incumbency.
The challenger did not hold back in his assessment of Johnson’s tenure. “His administration has become a revolving door of senior leadership,” Giannoulias said, pointing to the recent resignation of Chief Financial Officer Steve Mahr and the earlier departures of Rich Guidice and Police Superintendent Larry Snelling. He also criticized the Chicago Board of Education’s approval of a nearly $10 billion budget that relies on unapproved revenue sources, calling it “dangerously irresponsible” and evidence that the Chicago Teachers Union is calling the shots.
On public safety, Giannoulias promised to hire 1,000 additional police officers by 2030 and bring back ShotSpotter, the gunshot detection technology Johnson canceled. On schools, he vowed to tackle the problem of underenrolled schools with a community-driven process, saying past closures broke trust with Black and Latino communities. “A school with too few students cannot offer the full range of programs,” he said. “It’s not a healthy environment for 70 or 80 students to be in a school that was built for 1,500.”
Economic growth is another pillar of his campaign. “Chicago is ranked dead last out of the top 25 metro areas in the country for economic growth,” Giannoulias said. “That’s unacceptable.” He also pledged support for a millionaires tax championed by Johnson, a move that could blunt attacks that he is a captive of the wealthy donors who funded his campaign.
A former professional basketball player in Greece, Giannoulias credits his political mentor, former President Barack Obama, with teaching him to surround himself with smarter people. “That’s been buried in my brain,” he said.
Petitions for the mayoral race must be filed by the end of October. The election is set for February, with a runoff in April if no candidate tops 50% of the vote.