Alexi Giannoulias
Illinois Secretary of State. Candidate for mayor of Chicago, on the ballot February 23, 2027.
Secretary of State since 2023 and state treasurer before that; 50, born in Chicago to Greek immigrants, married with four daughters. Filed about 60,000 signatures on the first day and leads the field in money and in the one public poll.
Full platform, open to comments
Campaign website (alexiforchi.com)
Campaign money
- Committee: Citizens for Giannoulias
- Raised: $3.1M
- Spent: $6.0M
- Cash on hand: $19M
- Raised July 1 to Sept. 30, 2026; spent Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2026. Most of the third quarter's $5.8 million went to paid media; the committee also reported $2.3 million in debts. Source
Money figures are each committee's quarterly reports to the Illinois State Board of Elections: spent is total expenditures from January 1 to September 30, 2026 (or since the committee formed), cash is funds available on September 30.
Support
24.9% of likely voters in the ChicagoSpeaks poll, Sept. 2026 (Mansueto Institute / NORC). 4.2 points of support per $1 million spent.
What they would do
- Build 50,000 more homes by 2032 so the city does not become a place only the wealthy can afford.
Chicago should never become a city reserved only for the wealthy,
(CBS Chicago, Aug. 2, 2026) - Add 100 police officers on CTA trains and move officers out of desk jobs by civilianizing them.
There's a smarter way to civilianize a lot of these desk jobs, to get some younger recruits in,
(CBS Chicago, Aug. 2, 2026) - Run City Hall as a competent manager who cuts bureaucracy and waste.
I am maniacally bullish about Chicago's future, but we need to demand better from City Hall,
(ABC7 Chicago, Aug. 2, 2026) - Raise the minimum wage to $22 by 2032.
AI summary
Main points
Housing: 50,000 more homes by 2032, with the stated aim of keeping the city affordable to people who are not wealthy.
Police and transit: 100 more officers on CTA rail, and civilian staff in police desk jobs so sworn officers go back on the street.
Money: Keep the city's property tax levy flat, grow the economy instead, and consolidate the city's four pension funds. A minimum wage of $22 by 2032.
Next to the others
Housing target: Giannoulias and Quigley both aim for 50,000 homes; Holberg aims for 100,000.
Transit police: Giannoulias, Mendoza, Kelly, and Cardenas would put more police on the CTA; Holberg would start by cleaning the trains.
Only Giannoulias: A minimum wage number, $22 by 2032.
On money
Would hold the city's property tax levy flat and grow the economy instead of raising rates, consolidate the four pension funds, and cut what he calls waste and bureaucracy. Warns against counting on revenue that may not come.
People want competence. People want to know that someone is there that will get things done, that will cut bureaucracy, that will reduce waste, that will make government easier.
(ABC7 Chicago, Aug. 2, 2026)Glittery possible revenue is not responsible.
(NPR Illinois, Aug. 3, 2026)
Pizza
No position on record.
Also on the record
- Played professional basketball in Greece for Panionios in 1998 and 1999, and was once headlined as Obama's basketball pal. (en.wikipedia.org)
- Says his mother worked at Sears and his father sold pickles seven days a week. (cbsnews.com)
Compiled from public sources: