Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza said Wednesday she’ll give up her statewide office as she considers her “next biggest challenge” — which sure sounds like a potential bid against incumbent Mayor Brandon Johnson for control of the fifth floor of Chicago City Hall.
Mendoza said she’ll take a “thank-you tour” after three terms as the state’s chief financial officer before she decides whether to throw her hat in the 2027 ring against Johnson, who has left the city “in dire need of competency,” by her estimation.
“We’ve had two very unsuccessful mayors in a row,” Mendoza said during a news conference at Los Comales Restaurant in Little Village. “Chicagoans deserve better.”
“I don’t think any challenge is too big. Certainly, I’d love to see the city succeeding right now instead of failing. I would love that. And I have reached out on many occasions not just to this administration in the city, but the prior one, offering help, and, you know, they don’t take it,” she said.
Since Johnson took office in 2023, Mendoza has telegraphed her mayoral ambitions with a steady stream of social media statements criticizing many of his progressive policies, while positioning herself as a centrist, pro-police Democrat.
She took passing shots at Johnson Wednesday for his handling of public safety, Chicago Public Schools and mass transit, but lit him up for a lack of “economic growth” under his watch, according to Mendoza.
“Take a look Downtown, count how many cranes, maybe five. … Back in 2019, we had 65 cranes in the city of Chicago,” Mendoza said. “If our economic engine is sputtering, then no matter how hard of a job and how great of a job my team and I are doing, or the Legislature or the other statewide [offices], the governor, you name it — no matter how hard we’re working, it complicates matters.
“The state of Illinois cannot be successful when the city of Chicago is failing. So it is a concern.”
At a City Hall news conference that followed Wednesday’s City Council meeting, Johnson was unfazed by Mendoza’s decision to give up the statewide office she holds and at least consider running for mayor.
“I don’t think much about her candidacy,” the mayor said. “She tried this already and, apparently, Chicagoans didn’t think much of it, either.”
A protege of convicted former Ald. Ed Burke, Mendoza served as a state representative for 10 years before being elected Chicago city clerk in 2011.
She won her first state comptroller campaign in 2016 and made her first run for mayor in 2019, finishing fifth in a crowded first round of voting that blocked her out of the runoff won by Lori Lightfoot.
Despite that loss, Mendoza cruised to statewide reelection twice.
“You actually learn more in this line of work when you fail than when you win every time,” she said. “It made me stronger, and I’m very actually appreciative at that opportunity and to know what it’s like to walk in those shoes and know how I would do things differently.”
Within a few hours of Mendoza’s announcement, three Democrats had raised their hands for the comptroller’s office: state Sen. Javier Cervantes, D-Chicago; state Rep. Margaret Croke, D-Chicago; and Lake County Treasurer Holly Kim.
They’ll make their cases Friday to Cook County Democratic Party leaders in hopes of landing an endorsement on the party’s county slate for the March 17, 2026, primary.
Mendoza, who now lives with her family in Portage Park, grew emotional as she recounted her journey from Little Village to becoming comptroller while the state’s fiscal house was “on fire.”
“Rather than run from disaster, I run toward it every time. I’m a problem-solver through and through, and my 24-year record in public service reflects that,” she said.
Mendoza’s campaign committee raised $84,525.18 between the beginning of April and the end of June, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections.
That’s a smaller quarterly haul than other potential mayoral challengers, including Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, who raised more than $1 million. Ald. Bill Conway (34th) raised $203,110.
Johnson, who often mentions wanting to be the longest-tenured mayor in Chicago history, raised $106,159.27.
Mendoza said she has “a very strong ability to raise funds,” and suggested any seeker of statewide office “should be fully dedicated” to serving out a four-year term. Giannoulias is seeking reelection as secretary of state.
Contributing: Fran Spielman