How he did it. Analyzing Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson’s successful campaign “out of nowhere,” the Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman sees “flawless execution” of classic political strategy—sealing the deal “along the progressive-minded north lakefront, the hipster Milwaukee Avenue corridor and in three Northwest Side wards.”
■ Gov. Pritzker sees Johnson’s victory as “part of a kind of a sea change that’s going on in … ‘the Blue Wall.’”
■ Columnist Michael Romain: Johnson’s win solidifies the West Side’s political clout, becoming “the first Chicago mayor about whom many people in Oak Park and Proviso Township can legitimately say, ‘I knew you back when …’”
■ Columnist Eric Zorn—who reveals he didn’t vote for either mayoral candidate—says he’s “wiping the slate clean” for Johnson.
■ Block Club Chicago: Thousands of mail-in ballots uncounted could determine close City Council races.
■ Noting Wisconsin election results that mirror Chicago’s, Popular Information observes: “Republicans attacking Democrats as ‘soft on crime’ is not a winning message.”
■ The Onion: “Defeated Paul Vallas Announces Plan To Open New Charter Chicago.”
‘Dear Criminal Defendant #4913961R …’ Author and filmmaker Michael Moore addresses an open letter to Donald Trump: “Your assessment is correct: We ARE out to get you and bring you to Justice.”
■ Lawfare editor Quinta Jurecic, assessing the seriousness of the case against Trump: “This is actually quite bad.”
■ Ex-Vice President Mike Pence has abandoned efforts to avoid testifying in the investigation of Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
■ Esquire’s Charlie Pierce condemns coverage of Trump’s post-indictment festivities as “how not to do journalism” …
■ … which The Onion mocks in “Trump’s Arrest: A Timeline.”
Supreme perks. ProPublica exposes Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ secret acceptance of luxury trips from a major Republican donor.
■ The Guardian: Another big Republican donor faces an IRS complaint of misusing $73 million from nonprofit groups.
Highland Park arrest. The suburb traumatized by a Fourth of July massacre has arrested and charged a juvenile in connection with possession of a firearm at Highland Park High School earlier this week …
■ … and it’s rejecting talk of “a plot by multiple individuals to engage in violence” at the school.
■ Nearly 100 students walked out of Lake Forest High School yesterday to support a national ban on assault weapons.
■ Your Local Epidemiologist observes that policies with the greatest impact on protecting kids from bullets include “civil or criminal penalties for storing a handgun in a manner that allowed access by a minor.”
Not so smart. A Motherboard investigation concludes that security flaws in the Nexx brand of smart garage door openers let hackers find and open garages anywhere in the world.
■ Popular Science: “If you have one of these devices, go and unplug it right now.”
■ Honda’s recalling half a million 2007 through 2011 SUVs.
■ Consumer Reports rounds up the best spring cleaning deals on vacuums and lawn care tools.
‘A way for peddlers of misinformation to appear trustworthy.’ NewsGuard notes that a Twitter checkmark no longer signals credibility.
■ Eric Zorn pleads for Elon Musk to take away his check: “Now it looks like I am paying you, which is very embarrassing!”
■ The Onion again: “Facebook Entirely Memorialized Accounts.”
■ The Reader says more than 400,000 votes were cast for more than 10,000 nominees across 300 categories.
■ Here are all the winners …
■ … and here’s a download of the whole Best of Chicago edition.
■ Zorn, who came in third for best blog, jokingly calls it “the most deeply deceitful, dishonorable, despicable contest I have ever seen.”
■ Square’s also a finalist for best blog in the Chicago Headline Club’s Lisagor Awards, to be revealed May 12.
A Square advertiser
This week only! Set inside a contemporary boxing ring at the Museum of Contemporary Art with the audience seated on all four sides, Shamel Pitts and Afrocentric collective TRIBE debut an electrifying live performance exploring the power of vulnerability and human connection: Touch of RED.
Learn more about this performance and save 20% on tickets to all three performances in the MCA’s On Stage: Frictions series here.