Chicago Mayoral Race Polls 2023: Lori Lightfoot trails ‘Chuy’ Garcia
Chicago Mayoral Race Polls 2023 – Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia: 22.34%, Lori Lightfoot: 18.34%, Willie Wilson: 11.67%, Paul Vallas: 13.67%
Google Search Trends – Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia: 13%, Lori Lightfoot: 58%, Willie Wilson: 19%, Paul Vallas: 10%
Eleven candidates are running for office in the Chicago Mayoral election which is scheduled for February 28th, 2023 If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, a runoff election will take place on April 4, 2023. The filing deadline for this election was November 28, 2022. The incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot is seeking re-election.
Lightfoot was elected mayor in 2019. Lightfoot won 17.5% of votes amongst the 14 candidates contesting for the general election In the April 2 runoff election, she defeated Toni Preckwinkle 74% to 26%.
Chicago Mayoral Race: Who are the Candidates?
The 2023 Chicago Mayoral election is crowded as usual with eleven candidates contesting for the mayor’s seat. Even though the Chicago elections are non-partisan the candidates are predominantly democrats. All the candidates are running from the Democratic party except Willie Wilson.
Democratic Party
- Lori Lightfoot
- Paul Vallas
- Chuy Garcia
- Kam Buckner
- Frederick Collins
- Ja’Mal Green
- Brandon Johnson
- Sophia King
- Roderick Sawyer
- Johnny Logalbo
Willie Wilson Party
- Willie Lee Wilson
Lori Lightfoot Polls: Who is Winning the Chicago Mayoral Race?
- Opinion Polls – Lori Lightfoot [Rising Trend]
- Google Search Trends – Willie Wilson [Rising Trend]
Chicago Mayoral Race: Latest Polls
| Average of all Polls | January 4th, 2023 |
| Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia | 22.34% |
| Lori Lightfoot | 18.34% |
| Willie Wilson | 11.67% |
| Paul Vallas | 13.67% |
| M3Strategies | December 13th |
| Chuy Garcia | 28% |
| Lori Lightfoot | 15% |
| Willie Wilson | 13% |
| Paul Vallas | 19% |
| Impact Research | November 17th |
| Chuy Garcia | 25% |
| Lori Lightfoot | 18% |
| Willie Wilson | 10% |
| Paul Vallas | 14% |
| Public Policy Polling | October 27th |
| Chuy Garcia | 14% |
| Lori Lightfoot | 22% |
| Willie Wilson | 12% |
| Paul Vallas | 8% |
Lori Lightfoot Polls: Job Approval Ratings
Lightfoot is the first progressive-identifying candidate to win office in Chicago since Mayor Harold Washington was elected in 1983. She won her 2019 election in a runoff against fellow progressive and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. Lightfoot has campaigned on her record as mayor, saying she “led the city through the unprecedented challenges of a global pandemic with tough, fair leadership — all while keeping or overdelivering on campaign promises.”
She had promised to reduce violence, and corruption and constitute a Department of the Environment. However many voters believe these promises remain unfulfilled. Crime and public safety remain to be the top concerns for the voters of Chicago.
According to the latest poll conducted by M3Strategies, an overwhelming majority of voters (74%) have an unfavorable view of Lori Lightfoot or disapprove of her performance as mayor. While around 68% of respondents didn’t think she deserved a second chance.
Lightfoot’s conflicts with left-leaning city officials and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) have led to criticism from some of her former political allies. In particular, she has come under fire for blasting the CTU for refusing to teach in person during last January’s COVID-19 spike, conflict with older persons, and a disruptive response to the 2020 protests regarding the killing of George Floyd.
Lori Lightfoot Polls: Poll Analysis- Impact Research
U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García is the “front runner” in the race for Chicago mayor, according to a November poll commissioned by the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150. However, it is to be noted that shortly after the release of the poll, Local 150 donated $1 million to García’s campaign to help her deny a second term to Lori Lightfoot and defeat the other nine candidates.
According to the poll, Garcia leads at 25% followed by Lightfoot at 18% in the general election. The poll predicts a 55%-25% victory in the runoff race for Garcia.
Lightfoot is deeply unpopular with Chicago voters, with 68% of voters rating her job as mayor negatively. She is also rated negatively by a majority of white (84%) and Latino voters (74%). While the blacks seem to be divided regarding her job approval at 50-50.
Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, endorsed by Chicago Teachers Union is highly unpopular amongst voters. More than 70% of respondents don’t seem to have any view of him.
According to the poll, the top issues concerning Chicagoan voters are crime and public safety followed by housing (24%), Education (22%), Inflation (19%), and taxes (17%).
Chicago Mayoral Race: Google Search Trends
- Lori Lightfoot: 58%
- Chuy Garcia: 13%
- Willie Wilson: 19%
- Paul Vallas: 10%
- Lori Lightfoot: 52%
- Chuy Garcia: 21%
- Willie Wilson: 15%
- Paul Vallas: 12%
Chicago Mayoral Race: Social Media Sentiments
- Wilson: +3%
- Lightfoot: -62%
- Garcia: +2%
- Vallas: -1.4%
Chicago Mayoral Race Polls: Endorsements
Incumbent Lori Lightfoot, Jesus Garcia, and Brandon Johnson have received the most media attention and endorsements.
Chicago Mayoral Race Polls: Election Process
The election in Chicago is a non-partisan election but most of the time a candidate is backed by a political party. Chicago is generally considered a Democratic Party-dominated region.
The term limit for the office of the Mayor in Chicago is 4 years. The candidate’s name before being listed on the ballot will have to get a minimum of 12,500 signatures from the Chicago voters within the prescribed date.
This year in Chicago the date for getting the 12,500 signatures has been fixed between November 21 to 28th. Candidates failing to get the required number of signatures are disqualified.
The names of the candidates with more than 12,500 signatures are listed on the ballot. On the voting date, voters cast their vote, and the winner is declared on the same day or the next day of the voting.
For a candidate to be declared winner will have to get a minimum of 50% vote share. Since the Chicago Mayoral election has been usually crowded, there have been very rare chances of a candidate receiving a 50% or higher share of votes.
If none of the candidates secures a majority, a run-off election is held. The top two candidates from the Primary election qualify for the run-off ballots. Since there are only two candidates, a winner is declared after the voting and counting is completed for the run-off election.
Chronology Leading To Chicago Election
The Chicago Mayoral Race is scheduled for February 28, 2023. If none of the candidates get the majority of votes, a runoff election will be held on April 4, 2023. Here are the important dates for the upcoming Chicago Mayoral Race:
August 30: This date officially marks the start of the election process for the Chicago Mayoral election. As per the rules, a candidate to make it to the ballot need 12,500 signature of the voters of Chicago. From August 30th, the candidates distribute the nomination petition among the Chicago Voters.
November 21-28: Filing of signed petitions to qualify for the ballot starts on November 21st. The process will continue up to November 28th.
January 30, 2023: Early voting for the Chicago Mayoral election is scheduled to begin.
February 28: The election day to elect the New Governor of Chicago. However, the election of a New Governor will depend only on the candidate crossing the required threshold of votes.
Results will be out on the same day, February 28th but it could take a few days depending upon the voting percentage.
April 4: The date for the run-off election if none of the candidates gets 50% of the total votes polled in the February 28th election. The top two candidates from the February 28th election will be on the ballots on this day.
Population Demography of Chicago
Chicago is a city in the state of Illinois and falls under Cook County. The population of Chicago was 2.7 M in 2015 and in the last 7 years, no increase in the population has been registered in Chicago.
Chicago has more women population than men and as of July 2021, the white population in Chicago is around 48%. The black population adds up to 29% of the population and Hispanics or Latinos together form 28.6% of the total population.
| Population Estimates, July 1 2021 | 2,696,555 |
| Persons under 5 years | 6.1% |
| Persons under 18 years | 20.5% |
| Persons 65 years and over | 12.7% |
| Female Population | 51.4% |
| White alone | 47.7% |
| Black or African Americans alone | 29.2% |
| American Indians and Alaska Natives alone | 0.3% |
| Asian alone | 6.8% |
| Two or More Races | 5.3% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 28.6% |
| White alone, not Hispanic or Latino | 33.3% |
