Chicago mayoral candidates prepare with election day less than a week away

CHICAGO — Wednesday marks less than a week until election day in Chicago and the hunt is on for every last vote.

The nine candidates in the race for mayor are closing their campaigns with their plans to fight crime.

“We must and we will stop crime,” Willie Wilson said.

“There’s a lot of instability,” Sophia King said. “People want to understand that they can walk safely in their communities that they can have good schools and really live in a city that’s vibrant.”

Paul Vallas, who didn’t have any press events Wednesday, launched a webpage encouraging Chicagoans to share their crime story.

As the campaign enters the final lap, there’s a surge in fundraising.

So far, the nine candidates have raised nearly $30 million.

“The big money is coming from the big players which are the labor unions and the business interests,” Derrick Blakley said. “The labor unions have gone in strong for Brandon Johnson, obviously for Brandon Johnson. The unions have also supported, to a lesser extent, Lori Lightfoot, her primary support has come from the more conservative unions. And the business community has really come out strongly behind Paul Vallas.”

Blakley, a political analyst, said although Lightfoot struggled to raise money in the early days of the campaign, the power of incumbency helped her fill up her coffers over the last six weeks.

“Since the beginning of the year, I think, she has benefited by getting more money from some of the sources that were holding back to try to see how things were going,” Blakley said. “And even in the business community, many of the contributors want to hedge their bets, they want to have money on a number of the horses in the race so that whoever gets in they have an ear.”