Mayor Brandon Johnson has tapped a high-profile social media influencer, trained attorney and progressive activist as his communications director, the third person to take helm of the press office.
Here’s what you need to know about Rachel Cohen, 32, who is now tasked with telling Johnson’s story at a time when he’s expected to embark on a tough battle for reelection.
Who is Rachel Cohen?
Cohen is a Harvard-trained attorney from Ohio. She taught English literature to non-English speakers in Rhode Island before deciding to go to law school.
Cohen first went viral in March 2025 when she publicly resigned from the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, accusing the firm of capitulating to the Trump administration when it was waging war on corporate law firms. The firm cut a deal with President Donald Trump to provide $100 million in pro bono work to avoid a series of executive orders. Before leaving, Cohen worked on financing for large corporations and private equity acquisitions.
Since then, Cohen has turned to activism. She was arrested for civil disobedience at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing office in Broadview that was being used as a detention facility during the height of Operation Midway Blitz. She was hit with tear gas or pepper bullets half a dozen times during those protests, she said.
Cohen also gained notoriety for refusing to pay her federal income taxes out of protest. At the time, most of her income was from freelance work.
“I was thinking about my willingness to be hit with chemical weapons,” Cohen told WBEZ in April. “And I couldn’t square giving the federal government $10,000.”
She said she will now need to pay federal taxes as a government employee, but that she is not currently planning to pay the $10,000 she owes from her freelance work.
What is Cohen’s national reach?
Cohen has 290,000 followers on Instagram and 363,000 on TikTok. Her videos on progressive politics regularly get tens of thousands of likes and hundreds or thousands of comments. Cohen is also engaged in the progressive, anti-establishment movement outside of Illinois. She did outreach for winning Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan.
Why did Johnson hire Cohen?
Cohen’s hiring marks another sign that Johnson wants to communicate more directly with constituents and voters as he has struggled to convey his wins in traditional media.
“The way people get their news and information is changing, and we have to meet Chicagoans where they are,” Johnson said in a statement. “Rachel understands how to take complex issues and make them accessible, while bringing the work of this administration directly to people on every platform.”
Johnson has been leaning on paid influencers who provide favorable analysis and share hand-picked messaging in recent months. Cohen has interviewed Johnson multiple times in short social media videos, but declined to take payment from the administration.
What does Cohen want to accomplish in the role?
Cohen argued there is a misunderstanding of “how much of a progressive champion Mayor Johnson is” and that her goal will be to communicate that message.
“It’s unfathomable to me because he is objectively one of the most progressive mayors in the country and was probably the most progressive mayor in the country when he was elected back in 2023,” Cohen said.
Cohen does not have any traditional communications experience in politics, though she emphasized her respect for legacy news outlets and often shares local reporting. She said Friday her hiring doesn’t mean a de-prioritization of trained journalists over social media influencers.
“We’re going to see an emphasis broadly on meeting people where they are, and for many people that is traditional press,” Cohen said. “For many people, that is new media. What we’re going to be focused on is sharing the many wins and investments that Mayor Johnson has made in our communities with people in as many formats as possible, and in language that is easy to understand.”
Who does Cohen replace?
Cohen replaces Communications Director Erin Connelly. Cohen’s first day is Monday.
Connelly currently makes $200,856 in her role, according to the city’s employee database. She took the permanent position after the ouster of Ronnie Reese in the fall of 2024. Reese, a longtime ally of Johnson’s who worked at the Chicago Teachers Union, left amid harassment and bullying allegations.
Others who came and went include Joe Calvello, who took on the role of “chief strategy officer” after working for U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat. Calvello now works for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. So does Cassio Mendoza, who worked previously as a press secretary for Johnson.