Chicago voters could vote this fall to give themselves the power to recall far-left mayor Brandon Johnson whose first year in office has been marked by a progressive turn, surging violence, and a flood of migrants drawn to the city’s sanctuary policies.
On Friday, leaders of a new political action committee launched the “Recall this Fall” petition to put a binding referendum on the November ballot, according to a news release. If approved by voters, the referendum would provide a mechanism for residents to recall their mayor.
But getting on the ballot will be no easy challenge. Supporters of the effort need to gather the signatures of 56,464 Chicago voters by August 5.
If they are successful, and if voters were to approve the initiative in November, they would then need to launch another petition drive and collect more than 120,000 valid signatures to put a recall of Johnson on the March 2026 ballot, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
The press release announcing the petition drive notes that many cities in Illinois and across the country offer their voters an opportunity to recall poorly performing mayors.
“Chicagoans should have the ability to do the same,” it says.
The effort is being led by Daniel Boland, a former technology salesman who has described himself as a longtime Chicago resident. He’s being joined in the effort by a former Chicago animal-care commissioner and a former candidate for county assessor, according to the Sun-Times. Former Illinois governor Patt Quinn, who previously led a successful drive to allow voters to recall their governor, has also provided guidance.
Boland told the Sun-Times he is disappointed by Johnson’s response to crime. “People can’t go out and even go to the grocery store without getting mugged,” he said. And he’s frustrated by what he sees as Johnson’s lack of transparency and accountability. He told the Sun-Times that Johnson is a “puppet” who is “owned” by the radical Chicago Teachers Union.
Johnson’s team has said they’re not concerned about the effort. At a news conference this week, Johnson described Boland as just “some dude from the suburbs” who is mad about the mayor’s diversity efforts, according to a local NBC report. He added that “apparently the extreme right wing in this country, they are not pleased with the fact that 60 percent of my administration are women, 43 percent of those who make up my administration are black.”
Boland said he’s lived in Chicago, not the suburbs, for 33 years, and denied the charge that his recall effort is motivated by opposition to the diversity. “I have six nieces and nephews who are bi-racial,” he told NBC Chicago. “I am proud of every single one of them.”
Johnson, a far-left activist who was a paid lobbyist for the Chicago Teachers Union, was elected last April. His campaign was backed by Bernie Sanders and the Democratic Socialists of America.
He vowed to build a “better, stronger, safer Chicago for all the people of Chicago,” but polls show many residents don’t believe he’s followed through. One poll in January, for example, found that at least 70 percent of registered Chicago voters don’t approve of his performance.
Johnson’s time in office has been marred by spikes in youth violence and shootings.
In February, Johnson agreed to get rid of ShotSpotter, a gun-shot detection tool that left-wing activists say is a “racist” spy tool. The move angered many aldermen and anti-violence activists in some the neighborhoods that have been most devasted by shootings. They say ShotSpotter is an effective “tool to solve crimes and save lives.”
In March, voters rejected Johnson’s “Bring Chicago Home” plan to institute a massive tax hike on high-end real-estate transactions to pay for this progressive spending priorities.
And many Chicagoans, including many Chicago Democrats, blame Johnson and other far-left leaders for the Venezuelan migrants who have flooded into the city over the last year and a half. According to one analysis, Chicago has spent about $300 million sheltering, feeding, and caring for the migrants – money that many residents say should be spent caring for needy Chicagoans.