Alexi Giannoulias was going to run for Mayor. Many potential candidates sought to cast doubt over that possibility, saying it would be better for him to wait to run for Governor, or that he wouldn’t leave the Secretary of State job he was doing so well to take on what seems like the unfixable problems of Chicago with four young children at home.
Then on August 2nd, Giannoulias stepped to the microphone at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers surrounded by most of Chicago’s top unions, many of the City’s business leaders, and his Greek American base, and declared: “Standing here today, surrounded by the people I love in the city I love, I am honored to announce that I am running to be the next Mayor of Chicago.”
TO VIMA asked Giannoulias, “Why now? Why not wait for a different position with less dire challenges?” Giannoulias answered, “I was raised in the classrooms of Chicago, the playgrounds of Chicago. My permanent address has always been Chicago. My wife and I made a conscious decision to raise our daughters in Chicago, so I feel this is how I can best serve Chicago.”
The “5th Floor,” as Chicago’s Mayor’s office is called, has often been occupied by larger than life figures.
Richard J. Daley made City Hall a base of national Democratic power. Harold Washington’s election in 1983 made him the city’s first Black mayor and made the city a prominent force in national black politics. Richard M. Daley not only surpassed his father’s tenure as Mayor, but made Chicago a global city, as well as a financial and tourism powerhouse like it never was before. And President Obama’s first Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, left the White House for the 5th Floor and has served as Ambassador to Japan and is even a potential 2028 presidential candidate.
But Emanuel’s successor was a one term Mayor, and with Chicago’s financial, affordability and public safety crises proliferating, the city may be on the verge of its second straight one term mayor.
It is against this backdrop of political instability and into a near bankrupt city government that Giannoulias seeks the office that many veteran political writers have called the “Boss” over the years.
The challenges did not deter Giannoulias, who told TO VIMA that he remains “maniacally bullish on Chicago. Chicago has everything that it needs to be the greatest city in America — two major airports, a Great Lake, world class universities, tremendous human capital, it is the most climate resilient city in America — but it needs leadership that is ready to meet the moment.”
From Fast Start to Comeback Kid
In 2006, the Greek world watched the meteoric rise of former Panionios guard Alexi Giannoulias as he entered Chicago politics. Despite starting a campaign for statewide office at 29 with the Illinois Democratic Party actively opposing him, Giannoulias won his election easily.
Giannoulias’ rise was as exciting as a young player coming into the league and playing as a star right away. He was the youngest state treasurer in the United States, the protégé of then Senator Barack Obama and later a top surrogate for Obama’s presidential campaign. In 2010 he became the Democratic nominee for Obama’s former United States Senate seat.
But just as a knee injury brought his basketball career to an end, a narrow 1.5% loss in the year the Tea Party swept through America ended Giannoulias’ stint in elected office.
But he was still very much involved in public life. He took on government roles as chair of the Illinois Community College Board and then was appointed by Mayor Rahm Emmanuel to the Chicago Public Library Board. He taught at Northwestern University and was active in Chicago’s philanthropic community through organizations like CARA, One Million Degrees, and the Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center. And he remained committed to Hellenic issues, helping establish the Hellenic American Leadership Council and advancing the issues it advocated for.
Twelve years after losing the Senate race, Giannoulias began his comeback. He sought out the largest Secretary of State’s office in the United States, and Illinois voters rewarded the comeback campaign, making Giannoulias the first new Illinois Secretary of State in 24 years.
Having campaigned on restoring trust in government, Giannoulias took on the “time tax” borne by citizens who had to surrender workdays to deal with their own government. Despite several areas of responsibility, he has jurisdiction over the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles, he is the State Librarian, the officer in charge of business services, including the formation of new businesses, the chief securities enforcement officer, oversees an administrative court system and the Illinois Secretary of State Police Force. Giannoulias managed reforms in each area.
He also found himself on the front lines of many national issues. He championed the first piece of legislation prohibiting “book bans”. He prevented companies that had automatic license plate readers from tracking women traveling to Illinois for abortions. He increased the use of technology in his office while simultaneously bolstering cyber security. And he prosecuted white collar fraud, including in the crypto currency industry.
His record as Secretary of State, his high approval ratings and the broad coalition he has assembled have helped fuel the argument among supporters that he was an obvious candidate when Chicagoans started seeking an alternative to the city’s unpopular Mayor, Brandon Johnson.
A Preview of the 2028 Democratic Primary
The challenges that the city faces and a Mayor Giannoulias will have to confront are not peculiar to Chicago. Affordability and distrust of public institutions are already shaping voter behavior across the country. They will follow Democrats through the midterms and, almost certainly, into the argument over the party’s direction in 2028.
In June, two thirds of residents said the cost of living in their neighborhood was unaffordable. Public safety is a top concern with every demographic in the city, as is public education. Government finances are in dire shape, and choices will have to be made.
These challenges appear to be the top agenda items for national Democrats, and it remains to be seen whether a platform like Josh Shapiro’s “Get Stuff Done” agenda or Alexandra Ocasio Cortez’s social democratic program will carry the day when it comes to choosing the Democrats’ policy direction in 2028.
It seems that Giannoulias has rejected the distinction. Describing himself as “a believer in getting things done,” Giannoulias recalled confronting a $200 million infrastructure funding gap early in his term as Secretary of State.
“I refused to accept the premise that the money simply didn’t exist,” said Giannoulias, who went on to describe how his budget team worked with State legislators to come up with sources of revenue “that did not burden everyday Illinoisans.”
The result was a package that now generates $150 million annually, “transforming what was once a looming crisis into a durable, self sustaining funding stream for the state’s future.”
Giannoulias is presenting his mayoral policy program with the same “get stuff done” and “all of the above” mentality that has characterized his approach as Secretary of State. Progressives will certainly be enamored with his commitment to a millionaire’s tax and a $22/hour minimum wage. Moderates will approve of his commitment to hire 1,000 new police officers, achieve efficiencies before asking for new revenue, and make Chicago more business friendly.
Both are typically supportive of commitment to not raise property taxes, his desire to drastically increase the housing supply in Chicago, create more jobs in the city, and tackle the city’s pension crisis.
His track record has helped him build a coalition that, to many outside Chicago politics, might seem unlikely. Giannoulias has already raised $22 million dollars, already a record amount for Chicago mayoral elections with the election still 5 months away, and more than double than all the other candidates have raised combined.
Roughly 50% of Giannoulias’ fundraising has come from organized labor with unprecedented $1,000,0000 donations from multiple unions; another 50% has come from the leaders of Chicago’s business community, with six figure donations coming from national heavyweight Democratic fundraisers like former US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, Matt Pritzker, Neil Blum, Michael Sacks, Liz Lefkofsky, and Alex Pissios. State Senators, State Representatives and Chicago Alderman have started endorsing Giannoulias, as have community groups.
Giannoulias has also proved difficult to place neatly within Chicago’s traditional political labels. From the right, he is called a “socialist” and from the left, he is called the “third term of Rahm Emanuel.” Giannoulias brushes off labels and declines to label his opponents, saying that he wants to be Mayor for “all of Chicago.”
While the sitting Mayor has promoted an “us vs them” narrative that dominates the national political rhetoric, Giannoulias insists that “every community matters, every community needs to be lifted up if we are going to grow the tax base. Every community has to have public safety, and a strong public transit system. Every community needs to become more affordable.”
Greek American Political Power in Chicago
Giannoulias is the only Greek-American to hold multiple statewide offices in Illinois, and would be the first Greek American to be elected Mayor of Chicago.
But his candidacy also offers a window into the broader political presence Greek Americans have built in Chicago. What emerges around Giannoulias is not simply an ethnic constituency rallying behind one of its own, but a network that reaches into organized labor, Democratic politics, business, the Greek Orthodox Church, fundraising and the city’s political establishment. His campaign has brought many of those strands together in unusually visible fashion.
While Giannoulias has already assembled what his campaign describes as an unprecedented coalition this early in a mayoral campaign, Chicago’s Greek American community continues to play a major role in support of Giannoulias. The reporting of his campaign launch demonstrated as much.
Politico Illinois noted the presence and support of Marc Poulos, the Executive Director of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, longtime advisor and friend Endy Zemenides, Metropolitan Nathanael of Chicago, former Cook County First Assistant State’s Attorney and Judge Anna Demacopoulos, and lobbyist and former Illinois Senate staffer Elias “Louie” Mossos.
Also in attendance was Bill Thanoukos, a former staffer for the Daley Administration and a board member of the Chicago Housing Authority under Mayor Emanuel, who is running for Alderman of the city’s 1st Ward. If elected, he would be the first Greek American alderman in Chicago’s history.
Besides Pissios, Giannoulias’ fundraising records show that a “who’s who” of Greek American leaders in Chicago has made significant contributions to his campaign. The campaign office is constantly filled with young Greek Americans, and members of the community who hold official party positions, like Dean Alonistiotis, President of the 39th Ward Democratic Organization, are helping Giannoulias build what he believes will be a “field operation like no one has seen.” Two of Chicago’s top political reporters are also of Greek American origin, Shia Kapos and Dan Mihalopoulos.
While the fundraising gap between Giannoulias and his opponents is substantial, it should be noted that he has a significant base of national Greek American support which he started building during his Senate run. These supporters have not been tapped into yet, but Greek Americans around the country are planning to hold events for this campaign.
“Greek Americans helped build Chicago, and this incredible community has constantly lifted me during my entire career,” said Giannoulias. “And the story of this community is the story of my parents, who came to this country with almost nothing, chasing nothing more than the American dream. My mother worked at Sears. My father sold pickles, seven days a week, doing whatever it took to provide a better future… I am proud to have this community once again by my side as we demand better for Chicago and seek to rebuild this great city.”
