How Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas grew into rivals for mayor of Chicago

A young Paul Vallas (left) in 1962; Brandon Johnson (right) in grade school. (Provided)

As the April 4 runoff draws closer, the Sun-Times and WBEZ have teamed up to take an in-depth look into the lives and careers of the two men vying to be Chicago’s next mayor.

One of them started out as a boy in Roseland before moving with his family to the southwest suburbs. The other was raised in far west suburban Elgin before moving to Chicago’s West Side after he married. 

Despite following very different paths, both now have their sights trained on Chicago’s City Hall. Below, check out detailed profiles on the respective backgrounds of Johnson and Vallas from Sun-Times and WBEZ reporters.

PROFILE: Brandon Johnson

Mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson (left) before a debate earlier this month; Brandon Johnson (right) in grade school. (Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times; Provided)

PROFILE: Paul Vallas

A young Paul Vallas (left) in 1962; mayoral candidate Paul Vallas (right) earlier this month. (Provided; Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times-file)