How to rid ourselves of Mayor 6.6
For contrarians, let’s be honest: Tuesday's primary election results were a mixed bag.
The big prize — Boss Toni Preckwinkle — remains annoyingly intact. The head of the snake lives to fight another day. But before we all start throwing ourselves off the nearest CTA platform, let’s acknowledge something important:
We’ve landed punches.
First Kim Foxx. Now Fritz Kaegi.
Two “reformers,” two failures, two exits. And not quietly, either. Voters made a point.
So no, the machine didn’t collapse. But it cracked. And cracks, as we all know, have a way of spreading.
Which brings us to the real objective: Getting rid of Public Enemy No. 1 — Mayor Brandon “6.6” Johnson.
The question now isn’t whether he’s bad. That case has been made, over and over again, every time he opens his mouth or signs another reckless policy. The real question is: How do you beat him?
Fortunately, this election gave us a roadmap.
The emerging fault lines
If you were paying attention — and not just to the headlines — you saw something interesting happening beneath the surface.
Shia Kapos flagged it, and it’s worth taking seriously: The growing political assertiveness of Hispanic voters.
The Democratic comptroller race between Karina Villa and Margaret Croke may not have grabbed national attention, but it told a bigger story. Villa, with deep ties to Latino communities, racked up over 350,000 votes and made the race far closer than the political class expected.
That’s not a fluke. That’s a signal.
In districts with significant Latino populations — the 2nd, 7th, 8th, and 9th — participation ticked upward. And this isn’t just a Chicago story. Similar patterns are emerging in New Jersey, Virginia, New York City — everywhere.
Translation: a sleeping giant is waking up.
And here’s the part the Democratic establishment doesn’t want to say out loud: that giant is not automatically loyal.
Kitchen-table politics vs. ideology
What are these voters actually responding to?
It’s not hard.
It’s not abstract theories about oppression. It’s not performative outrage about whatever the progressive flavor of the week happens to be. It’s not the endless, tedious moral lectures from City Hall.
It’s the same things that matter to everyone else:
Can I afford my rent?
Can I buy groceries?
Is my neighborhood safe?
Can I get decent healthcare?
In other words: reality.
And that’s where Brandon Johnson is most vulnerable.
Because Johnson doesn’t govern in reality. He governs in ideology.
Johnson’s cracks are already showing
Let’s dispense with the myth that Johnson has some kind of unshakable coalition.
He doesn’t.
Start with the obvious: he’s already lost much of the white vote. That’s. Finished. Irretrievable.
But that alone doesn’t defeat him.
The more interesting — and more consequential — development is what’s happening within his supposed base.
Johnson’s handling of the migrant crisis, his fixation on ideological signaling, and his inability—or unwillingness—to address core quality-of-life issues have created unease in places where he should be strongest.
Not everyone is thrilled that City Hall seems more focused on abstract political posturing than on the basics: crime, schools, taxes, neighborhood stability.
And here’s a truth the consultants won’t say on TV:
Black voters are not a monolith.
They have the same concerns as everyone else. And when those concerns aren’t being addressed, loyalty starts to erode.
You could already see hints of that erosion in this election.
That is a weakness. And weaknesses, in politics, are meant to be exploited.
The coalition that can beat him
So let’s stop pretending this is complicated.
The path to defeating Johnson is actually straightforward. It just requires discipline — something Chicago politics is not exactly famous for.
You build a coalition of:
- A mobilized and engaged Hispanic vote
- A meaningful slice of disaffected Black voters
- The already solid anti-Johnson white vote
- Plus business-minded independents and taxpayers who are fed up with the chaos
That’s your majority.
Not theoretically. Practically.
But here’s the catch: it only works if it’s unified.
If five candidates try to run as “anybody but Johnson,” you get the same result Chicago always gets — fragmentation, confusion, and the worst candidate slipping through the middle.
If, however, one credible candidate consolidates that opposition — or at least narrows the field — Johnson is in serious trouble.
He can be forced into a runoff.
And in a one-on-one race, against a competent alternative, he can be beaten.
The vultures are already circling
Let’s not kid ourselves. The political class sees this.
They smell blood.
You already have names floating: Mendoza, Giannoulias, Reilly, and others who would very much like to trade their current jobs for the fifth floor at City Hall.
Good.
They should.
But they also need to understand something: this isn’t going to be a normal election.
This is going to be a referendum.
On competence.
On ideology.
On whether Chicago wants to continue down the path it’s currently on — or pull back before it’s too late.
And that means the campaign starts now.
Not in six months. Not a year from now.
Now.
Johnson is not inevitable
The biggest mistake Johnson’s opponents can make is psychological.
They cannot treat him as inevitable.
Because he’s not.
He is weak. His approval is weak. His governance is weak. His political instincts are, frankly, disastrous.
Every month he stays in office, he alienates another group of voters.
Every press conference. Every tone-deaf statement. Every policy that prioritizes ideology over practicality — it all adds up.
He is not building a durable coalition.
He is shrinking one.
A city at a breaking point
Chicago has seen bad mayors before.
But Johnson represents something different.
He is the full expression of a political worldview that prioritizes grievance over governance, symbolism over results, and ideology over common sense.
That might play well in activist circles.
It does not play well in a city trying to function.
And people are noticing.
They’re noticing the finances.
They’re noticing the crime.
They’re noticing the decline in basic services.
They’re noticing the disconnect between rhetoric and reality.
At some point, even the most patient voters reach a conclusion:
Enough.
The mission
So yes, this last election didn’t give us everything we wanted.
Boss Toni lives.
But Kaegi is gone. Foxx is gone. And the underlying political landscape is shifting in ways that should make Brandon Johnson squirm.
The coalition to beat him exists.
The frustration is real.
The opportunity is there.
Now it’s a question of execution.
From this moment until March 2027, every serious challenger, every donor, every organizer, every voter who cares about the future of this city should be focused on one thing:
Building the coalition that can end this experiment in ideological governance.
Because Chicago cannot afford four more years of Mayor 6.6.
Not financially.
Not socially.
Not politically.
The next election starts now.
And this time, the mission is simple: Relegate Johnson to the ash heap of history.
