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Lobbyist John Kelly launches campaign for Chicago Mayor by: Tahman Bradley Posted: Jul 28, 2026 / 07:44 PM CDT Updated: Jul 28, 2026 / 07:44 PM CDT WGNJohn Kelly has never run for political office, but he’s no stranger to City Hall. A longtime lobbyist for the White Sox, United Center, Bally’s Corporation and more, Kelly is launching a campaign for Chicago Mayor.In anticipation of the campaign, Kelly says he has de-registered as a lobbyist but retains ownership of his firm. He plans to have someone else control the company while he runs for office.“When you’re working on behalf of those clients, you know how to make government work,” Kelly said during an interview on The Point. “Maybe City Hall needs a lobbyist. I think that if the current administration were better at lobbying, we’d get more out of Springfield, because that’s a big part of the mayor’s job.”Kelly says his campaign will focus in part on public safety. He’s promising to reduce the security detail given to the Mayor and redeploy some officers to the CTA. He also wants to hire 1,000 new police officers.While Mayor Brandon Johnson and other top Democrats continue to rail against President Donald Trump and his policies, Kelly says he wants to stop focusing on the rhetoric coming out of Washington, D.C.“I don’t think the job of mayor of Chicago is to battle the president,” Kelly said.“When you’re Mayor of Chicago, your agenda is the city and the people. It’s not partisan politics. But when you really don’t want to run the day-to-day of a city and not worry about what the residents want, you pivot to politics, you talk about the president and that’s the sideshow.” ...
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Topic: Lobbyist John Kelly launches campaign for Chicago Mayor (Read 21 times)
