Conehead is Running (so far)

Conehead has tossed his pointy hat into the ring, despite an approval rating in the single digits:

• After months of deliberation, Mayor Brandon Johnson on Sunday set out on the uphill road to reelection, launching a campaign that he said will force voters to “identify the difference between real progressives and posers” in the crowded 2027 mayoral race.

  Johnson spoke to an energized crowd of hundreds of supporters in a cloud-covered courtyard at the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center. The block party-style event — with a sign-making station, tacos and campaign merchandise — was a who’s who of Chicago’s progressive activist community.

But as the Slum Times points out, Conehead has dug himself a pretty deep hole already:

• By waiting until after Labor Day to announce his decision to run again, Johnson has put himself behind the eight ball. He has less than $650,000 in his campaign fund compared to the $22 million held by frontrunner and Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias. Johnson has the power of incumbency and has been making the most of that, but he still needs money to defend his record.

  He doesn’t need to duplicate the $12 million that allowed him to go from single-digit obscurity to the mayor’s office in 2023 in a campaign bankrolled and staffed largely by the Chicago Teachers Union. But he does need enough cash to run costly television ads.

So....is the CTU getting behind mayor 6%? Because that's about the only place he'll be getting any further campaign cash.

The real question should be "What portion of the electorate is Conehead trying to play spoiler for?" Supposedly, he has the CTU backing, but that spot is increasingly toxic. Is he in to deny someone else the lakefront progressives? Or to fracture the black vote? Willie Wilson, Matt Brewer and Danielle Carter-Walters each have their niche appeals, none of which will get them elected, but could minimize that formerly solid voting bloc into irrelevance. Pappas running directly against Giannoulious, Quigley is there to split the white ethnic vote, Cardenas is in to kneecap Mendoza at the moment, so he's likely a Giannoulious plant. Holberg, Nee and Kelly are non-entities.

Remember, the goal is to be in the runoff. Giannoulious is THE money guy at the moment. He thinks he's one of the top two finishers and he wants a weak opponent for the runoff, i.e. not Mendoza.

The filing deadline for nominating petitions is something like 26 October, so the field will narrow somewhat by then. Interesting times ahead.