It’s the $64,000 question echoing across dinner tables, in barbershops, at neighborhood gatherings, and in the city council: Has Chicago Finally Had Enough?
After three consecutive mayoral administrations led by career bureaucrats and entrenched political insiders, many residents hoped — perhaps naively — that this time would be different. Each new Mayor promised reform, transparency, and progress. And each time, we’ve been met with disappointment, mismanagement, and finger-pointing.
We’ve been sold the same empty slogans and lofty campaign rhetoric, only to watch machine-supported elected officials retreat into the same political patterns that have long plagued this city. One mayor even went so far as to blame poor, dead Richard Nixon for Chicago’s current woes — a deflection that borders on the absurd.
But here’s the hard truth that few people want to face: We put them there. These leaders didn’t seize power in a vacuum — we elected them. And after the votes are tallied, we spend the next four years expressing our disapproval and frustration as we are now with “Mayor 6.6% approval,” but doing little to change the system that keeps failing us.
Why? Because it’s comfortable. It’s familiar. Because we’ve convinced ourselves that real change is too difficult or too risky.
But what’s truly risky is doing nothing, and that’s exactly what happened in the last election. Our current mayor, who has governed as if representing only a fraction of the city, now polls under 10% approval at midterm, and that’s being generous. Among Chicago’s nearly one million registered voters, only about 39% turned out to vote. Of those voters, Johnson won by just over half of that, while more than 60% of voters stayed home and didn’t vote at all.
That Apathy and Silence Speak Volumes
From social media rants to op-eds and public protests, it’s clear that many Chicagoans are deeply dissatisfied with our current Mayor’s leadership. But venting is not the same as voting. So I ask again: What are you going to do about it? Have you had enough?
In less than two years, we’ll head to the polls again, but long before then, challengers — and there will be many — will begin forming committees and raising money to unseat the current occupant of the 5th floor. If you’re unhappy, if you really want change and have had enough, now is the time to get engaged — because complaining after an election where so many votes remain quiet, changes nothing.
Chicago wants and needs a leader who represents all of us. Someone with vision that we can support, a strong backbone, and broad shoulders with a genuine commitment to public service — not another insider who knows how to play the game but not how to lead.
We also need voters who will reject cynicism and re-engage with the democratic process. You may think your vote doesn’t matter. But it does. As the saying goes, "What is an ocean but a multitude of raindrops?" Every vote is a raindrop. Together, they can create a wave of change.
So if you’ve really had enough — truly had enough — then don’t just say it. Show up. Speak out. And vote for someone who deserves your trust.
Until then, and if things don’t change, Chicago will continue to elect career politicians who say one thing and do another, and we will all continue to suffer as a result.
