Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., responds to questions from reporters as Mass. Attorney General Maura Healey, left, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., right, look on during a news conference Thursday, April 1, 2021, in Boston. The news conference was held to call on President Biden to use the Higher Education Act to cancel a share of student loan debt for students with federal loans.
Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson has picked up the first national endorsement of the Chicago mayoral runoff campaign, as Massachusetts Senator and former presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren announced her endorsement of Johnson's campaign on Friday.
"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 announcing her support of Johnson in his bid against former CPS CEO Paul Vallas.
The endorsement marks the first instance of a national politician throwing their weight behind a candidate in this race, as Johnson aims to shore up local and national progressive support with the start of early voting just 10 days away.
The connection between Johnson and Warren dates back to Warren's 2020 presidential campaign, when the Cook County Commissioner endorsed the Mass. Senator, saying that Warren "reminds us we have reason to hope" while calling her "a woman who has never let fear win."
Warren's endorsement gives Johnson a high-profile, well-connected name with valuable political connections, though the ultimate strength of the Senator's backing will likely be dependent on how much money the support drives in.
Turnout remains a potential barrier for Johnson to win the runoff election, with citywide turnout standing at just 35.67 percent with a small amount of mail-in ballots not yet counted.
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 Vallas' favor.
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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.
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.
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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.
