Two candidates representing opposite ends of the Democratic party are on the ballot in the highly-watched Chicago mayoral runoff on Tuesday.
Paul Vallas, the former CEO of the Chicago school system, and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, a former teacher who is heavily backed by the Chicago Teachers Union, were the top two vote-getters in the February general election. Incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot came in third, so she will not be on the ballot on Tuesday.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET.
"In general, the race is too close to call," said Dick Simpson, a former Chicago alderman and professor emeritus at the University of Illinois-Chicago. "It depends on turnout that each candidate is able to produce their voters … the voters are literally torn."
Vallas, who is White, has focused his campaign mainly on crime while Johnson, who is Black, has focused on education.
Vallas led in the general election, taking 32.9% of the vote, and Johnson came in second with 21.6%, but Johnson has closed the gap since then. A recent poll from Northwestern University's Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy (CSDD) and various nonprofit organizations found the race in a dead heat, with both Vallas and Johnson having 44% of the vote.
Despite having formerly described himself as "more Republican than Democrat," Vallas has received the backing from several high-profile Illinois Democrats. Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, the senior senator from Illinois, has backed him, as well as former President Obama's Education Secretary Arne Duncan. He also has the support of Republican donor Kenneth Griffin, who has previously backed divisive former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Johnson, meanwhile, has received the backing of influential national Democrats like Sens. Bernie Sanders — who held a rally with Johnson last week — and Elizabeth Warren, Jesse Jackson and Rep. Jim Clyburn. At the rally for Johnson, Sanders categorized the race as being between the interest of the "powerful and greedy" and "the son of the working class," according to the Chicago Tribune.
Despite the national interest in the race — Chicago is, after all, America's third largest city — Christopher Mooney, a political science professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago, noted the biggest issues are local issues — crime and education — and not broader cultural war issues.
"The culture war issues and the weird national polarization that we've got now — and Donald Trump — those culture wars and Donald Trump, those things are irrelevant in the city of Chicago," Mooney said.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the candidates brought in about $17 million in the month between the general election and the end of March. Vallas brought in just under $11 million and Johnson brought in $5.8 million, according to the Tribune.