Paul Vallas, left, and Brandon Johnson (Bloomberg) — Chicago is guaranteed a new mayor after voters rejected incumbent Lori Lightfoot’s bid for a second term. With the looming leadership change, investors want to know whether the city will keep up recent financial momentum or return to old bad habits. The third-largest US city escaped from junk-rating territory late last year after paying more into its long-strained pensions that are still short nearly $34 billion. The mayoral runoff contenders — Cook County Board Commissioner Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas, the former Chicago schools chief, have starkly different approaches for how to address that shortfall and the rest of the challenges facing its 2.7 million residents. More Vallas picks up Jesse White endorsement as he busts campaign giving cap “Preserving and furthering the financial and credit improvements should be a top priority for any candidate,” said Dora Lee, director of research at Belle Haven Investments, which holds Chicago debt as part of $15 billion in muni assets. “Campaign promises are very easy to make but very hard to execute. However, they will be easier to accomplish if the city is on a sound financial footing.” The city has long struggled with […]
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