Less Than One-Third Of Chicago Residents Approve Of Mayor: POLL

Less Than One-Third Of Blue City Residents Approve Of Mayor: POLL

Lillian Tweten on November 16, 2023

Democratic Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has lost support from most of the residents in the city, according to a new poll from the Illinois Policy Research Institute and the Echelon Institute.

Only 28% of Chicago residents said they approved of how Johnson has led the city since he took office, just one point above former Mayors Rahm Emmanuel, who was surrounded by scandal after a officers made false reports after shooting a 17-year-old 16 times, and Lori Lightfoot, who lost her primary race despite being the incumbent, according to the Illinois Policy Institute. Even fewer residents approved of Johnson’s specific policies, with just 21% supporting his response to crime in the city and 23% saying that they approve of how he has handled the influx of migrants.

“Only three times since 1979 has a Chicago mayor’s approval rating dipped under 30%,” Dylan Sharkey, who works at the Illinois Policy Institute, told The Center Square. “It happened to former Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2016 following the Laquan McDonald shooting, and it happened earlier this year to former Mayor Lori Lightfoot shortly before she failed to make the mayoral runoff.”

We did everything I said we would do.

✅Youth jobs
✅Support for unhoused
✅Violence prevention and intervention
✅Department of the Environment
✅Re-opening mental health clinics
✅Re-entry, restoration and reparations

Without raising property taxes.

Thank you, Chicago.

— Mayor Brandon Johnson (@ChicagosMayor) November 15, 2023

The only other mayor to get such a low approval rating was Democrat Michael Bilandich, who came under scrutiny in 1979 after roads went unplowed in Chicago during a blizzard, according to the Illinois Policy Institute. Only 33% of residents approved of Bilandich, who was voted out of office a few months later.

Approximately 65% of Chicago residents said that they believed the city is headed in the wrong direction, compared to 59% in February, according to the poll. Roughly 73% said they would like to see more police presence in the city, and 69% said that they view crime as the most pressing issue in Chicago.

Johnson has come under fire since assuming office because of the jump in crime, which was much higher in his first few months than it was during the first 90 days of his predecessor. Chicago crime has increased 21% since January and jumped 69% since 2021, police data shows.

The poll was conducted between Oct. 18 and Oct. 22, collecting answers from 800 registered voters via phone and the internet. It has a 4.4 percentage point margin of error.

Johnson did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.