Billionaire Griffin Slammed in Heated Chicago Mayoral Debate

(Bloomberg) -- One of the hottest topics in the Chicago mayoral election is a person who doesn’t even live in the city anymore.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• Companies Are Telling Us the Real Reason They're Still Raising Prices

• Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund Advises Companies to Withdraw Money From SVB

• One Bank Folds, Another Wobbles and Wall Street Asks If It’s a Crisis

• In Biden’s Tax-the-Rich Budget, Capital-Gains Rates Near 45%

• Warner Bros. Delays ‘Suicide Squad’ Game Again to Add More Polish

Ken Griffin, the hedge fund billionaire and major Republican donor, was repeatedly criticized by Brandon Johnson on Wednesday night in a televised debate with fellow Democrat Paul Vallas.

“You’re supported by someone like Ken Griffin, who loves DeSantis, right-wing extremists who deny the fact that we actually had a pandemic,” Johnson, 46, said to Vallas during the debate, referencing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Griffin, one of the nation’s richest people with a $36.6 billion fortune, is a polarizing figure in Chicago. He gave more than $600 million to organizations in the Windy City over several decades but clashed with Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and very publicly quit Chicago last year, blaming violence for relocating the headquarters of his hedge fund Citadel and market maker Citadel Securities to Miami.

A failure to tackle crime contributed to Mayor Lori Lightfoot losing her reelection bid last week, something that hasn’t happened to an incumbent since 1983. The defeat has reverberated across the country with New York’s Mayor Eric Adams seeing it as a “warning sign” for big cities across America about the need to deal with crime.

It has also exposed deep divisions in the Democratic party. Vallas, the former head of Chicago Public Schools gained 34% of the vote with a message that he’d be tough on crime. Johnson, running to the left, gained 20%. The runoff election is April 4.

Griffin, 54, said in an interview this week in Palm Beach, Florida, that he was done with Chicago politics but wants a Vallas victory.

“I’ve had enough of Illinois,” Griffin said. “I will tell you, I really admire my colleagues who have supported Paul Vallas publicly with their voice and with their money. I hope that Paul Vallas becomes the mayor of Chicago.”

Vallas, 69, didn’t directly address Griffin’s support, but said many of his financial backers have previously supported Democratic mayors including Rahm Emanuel and even Lightfoot.

“At the end of the day, they know the city is in crisis and they need someone who can manage the city and can pull together a leadership team that can run every department, every agency whether it’s public safety, whether it’s schools for that matter, whether it’s the budget,” Vallas said.

--With assistance from Felipe Marques.

(Updates with philanthropy in fourth paragrapn.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

• Even Wealthy Landlords Are Skipping Payments on Office Buildings

• America’s $52 Billion Plan to Make Chips at Home Faces a Labor Shortage

• The Biggest Winner of the Gas Stove Fight Is Induction Ranges

• Instagram Founder Says the Time Has Come for a New Social Network

• Health-Care Oversight Rule Changes Create Legal Risk for US Employers

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.