Overview
- Giannoulias formally announced his mayoral campaign on Sunday with a video and a launch event at IBEW Local 134 in Bronzeville.
- Campaign filings and reports show he has about $22 million available, far more than other declared contenders, and he has drawn support from both trade unions and business figures.
- He is running for mayor while also seeking reelection as Illinois secretary of state this November, a move Republican opponent Diane Harris and others have criticized as neglecting his current duties.
- Giannoulias framed his bid around restoring operational competence to City Hall and pledged specific measures including hiring 1,000 police officers by 2030, bringing back ShotSpotter gunshot detection, and backing a millionaire's tax.
- The field is crowded with at least a dozen declared candidates, petitions are being circulated ahead of an October filing deadline, and his entry reshapes coalitions and the debate over Chicago’s fiscal gaps and pension pressures leading into a likely runoff in April if no candidate wins a majority.