Cook County Commissioner and Chicago mayoral runoff candidate Brandon Johnson has picked up another national endorsement: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
"Brandon Johnson knows the struggles of working families and the need to stand up for strong unions, make the rich pay their fair share, to invest in affordable housing, quality health care, better schools, and good jobs," Sanders wrote in a tweet Thursday. "That's why I'm proud to endorse him for mayor of Chicago."
The endorsement comes one week after Massachusetts Senator and fellow former presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren also endorsed Sanders.
"Brandon Johnson is a former public school teacher with a bold, forward-looking, progressive plan to move Chicago forward - and the experience to make it happen. I'm happy to endorse him for mayor," Warren said in a tweet.
Early voting for the April Chicago Mayoral runoff begins March 20.
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Although Johnson saw success in high-turnout wards along the north lakefront, registering victories in the 47th and 48th Wards which each posted turnouts above 48 percent, many of the city's other high-turnout wards broke heavily in challenger Paul Vallas' favor.
Of the 15 wards where first-round turnout exceeded 40 percent, 10 had voted in favor of Paul Vallas, according to the Chicago Board of Elections.
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In the 10 high-turnout wards that Vallas carried, Johnson failed to capture at least 20 percent of the vote in six of them, while registering under 10 percent of the vote in the 13th, 19th and 41st Wards.
In addition to Warren's backing, Johnson was also endorsed by the American Federation of Government Employees Local 704, while Vallas picked up an endorsement from the Armenian National Committee of America on Friday.
