The Latest Breaking News from Brandon Johnson

In his first visit to the mayor’s office since being elected Tuesday, Johnson said he was struck by “what this moment means for people around the city, who want the city to be united.”

Today’s update is about an eight-minute read that will brief you on the day’s biggest stories.

It starts with declaring independence — in action, not words — from the powerful Chicago Teachers Union. City Hall belongs to every Chicagoan, and Johnson will eventually have to make decisions that CTU and other unions won’t like. That’s part of the job.

Progressive Brandon Johnson narrowly defeated the more conservative Democrat Paul Vallas in a highly-anticipated vote.

Johnson won 29 of 50 wards, including a clean sweep of majority African-American wards. He won six Hispanic majority wards to Vallas’ nine. Johnson sealed the deal along the progressive-minded north lakefront and the hipster Milwaukee Avenue corridor.

What I’ve heard repeatedly is that, much like teachers, police officers are being asked to do their job and someone else’s job,” the mayor-elect told the Sun-Times.

The union "has an outsized impact on working families who have no other choice on where to send their children...that power, combined with a mayor who is essentially a wholly owned subsidiary, would make them a dangerous force," says one former Chicago Public Schools executive.

Once Johnson and voters know how city departments are doing, it will be easier for him to obtain broad support for necessary corrections.

CHICAGO — On his first day as Chicago’s mayor-elect, Brandon Johnson echoed his winning promise to rethink the city’s approach to public safety, while his lame-duck predecessor Mayor Lori Lightfoot warned him to show humility to first responders upon the heels of another firefighter death in the city.