U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia and Cook County Comm. Brandon Johnson (D-1) speak at their respective mayoral announcements. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line and Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago]

Despite having the most name recognition among candidates, Mayor Lori Lightfoot is also the candidate that the most voters would be unwilling to choose in February’s mayoral election, according to a new Chicago Index survey.

That same survey also shows that progressive challengers U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-Ill.) and Cook County Comm. Brandon Johnson (D-1) are the current favorites among mayoral candidates.

Screen shots from the ads of Brandon Johnson, Paul Vallas and Lori Lightfoot.  

The race for Chicago mayor notched up a level Wednesday with the launch of new TV ads from three candidates including the first for both former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas and Cook County Comm. Brandon Johnson (D-1). 

Members of the Chicago Electoral Board during a Dec. 22 meeting. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Five aldermanic candidates were officially removed from the Feb. 28 municipal election ballot last week after facing challenges to their petitions, shrinking some races even further with less than two months before the election.

Members of the Chicago Electoral Board meet Thursday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]  

The Chicago Electoral Board on Thursday adopted the recommendation that mayoral candidate Johnny Logalbo's nominating petitions are not "legally valid" for the reasons detailed in the two separate cases that were filed challenging his petitions. 

The decision shrinks the mayoral candidate pool for the Feb. 28 election down to 10.   

Ja’Mal Green and supporters held a news conference Wednesday after a challenge to his petitions was withdrawn. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line] 

In a complete reversal from what each of their campaigns were arguing Tuesday, mayoral candidates Ja’Mal Green and Willie Wilson and their supporters on Wednesday withdrew challenges to each other’s petitions to get on the Feb. 28 ballot. With the motions to withdraw submitted, Green and Wilson have secured their spots on next year’s ballot. 

The motions to withdraw the challenges come just one day after both Green’s and Wilson’s campaigns argued for hours before a hearing officer for why the other should be kicked off the ballot, lobbing accusations of fake signatures and patterns of fraud and calling into question multiple people’s residencies. 

Attorneys and district council candidates attend a hearing Tuesday on whether three sets of candidates can file petitions as a slate. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]  

Three sets of candidates and their attorney running on separate slates for the city’s new police district councils in the Feb. 28 election argued Tuesday that nothing in the ordinance that established the district councils prohibits candidates for the newly created positions from filing petitions to get on the ballot as a slate and running for election on the slate. 

Nearly 1 in 4 candidates who filed petitions to run for police district council seats are facing petition challenges. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line] 

Twenty-nine of the 122 candidates who filed petitions to run for the city’s new police district councils in the Feb. 28 election are facing challenges to their petition signatures and a coalition of police accountability organizations held a news conference Thursday to give an overall status update on the first-of-their-kind elections.  

The City Council will consider a packed agenda Wednesday during its final meeting of the year. Aldermen are set to confirm a new 12th Ward alderman and vote on zoning amendments for the Chicago casino and the creation of a new tax-increment financing (TIF) district to fund the Red Line Extension south. 

Attorneys for Willie Wilson and Ja’Mal Green sit at a table for a petition challenge hearing Monday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line] 

Mayoral candidates and their attorneys traded barbs Monday as the Chicago Board of Elections kicked off hearings for challenges to candidates’ petition signatures to get on the Feb. 28 municipal election ballot.

Chicago Board of Elections Spokesperson Max Bever during the ballot placement lottery Tuesday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Ja’Mal Green will be listed first on the Feb. 28 ballot for the Chicago mayoral race so long as he can survive a challenge to the petition signatures he turned in last month.