Brandon Johnson projected to become Chicago's next mayor

Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson is projected to win the Chicago mayoral race, defeating centrist opponent Paul Vallas.

The Associated Press called the race for Johnson, who took 51.4% of the vote to Vallas's 48.6% as of press time.

Chicago voters previously ousted Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot in a February primary contest.

Johnson and Vallas emerged as the top two vote getters in that initial election. The pair took 32.9% and 21.6% of the primary vote, respectively, in the nine-way primar. Chicago's mayoral race is officially nonpartisan, though candidates generally identify with one of the major political parties. A Republican has not led the city since 1931.

Lightfoot's tenure saw the city struggle to combat rising crime with challengers highlighting the issue during the primary. Vallas, in particular, campaigned heavily on addressing the issue. Lightfoot was the first Chicago mayor to lose re-election since 1983, according to Ballotpedia.

Vallas campaigned largely on crime-related matters and has declared himself a Democrat, though he has fielded accusations of actually being a Republican. He previously secured the Democratic nomination for Illinois lieutenant governor in 2014.

Johnson, a Cook County commissioner, meanwhile, has endorsed more progressive reforms to law enforcement, including the reallocation of police resources to social services.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.