Matt Brewer, former chair of Chicago Housing Authority, running for Chicago mayor

Matt Brewer, the former chief executive officer and board chair of the Chicago Housing Authority, announced he is joining the Chicago mayoral race. 

Brewer notably helped lead the CHA amid a monthslong dispute with Mayor Brandon Johnson over the authority's next CEO. He remains a CHA board member.

Brewer grew up on Chicago's South Side, and attended Stanford University for his undergraduate education. He went on to earn a J.D. from Yale Law School and an MBA at Harvard Business School, and is a partner at the law firm Bartlit Beck.

He said his experience as a small business owner, nonprofit founder, and attorney will bring a unique perspective to the mayor's office.

"I've worn lots of different hats… but all of those experiences prepare me for the task at hand right now," Brewer said. "The city is at a turning point. The decisions we make in the next four years will impact our next 40 years. And so the way I talk about it is that we need to move Chicago forward without leaving people behind."

Brewer acknowledged that while he entered the race late, he embraces being the "underdog."

This past spring, Brewer and Mayor Johnson became embroiled in a conflict over the board's choice for a new CEO for the CHA. In March the CHA Board voted 7-2 to hire Keith Pettigrew as CEO over the agency over Johnson's objection. Johnson had wanted former Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th) for the role.

Mayor Johnson went on to demote Brewer, who was chair of the CHA Board at the time, saying the process that led to Pettigrew's appointment violated state law. The mayor accused Brewer of violating the Open Meetings Act and "long-standing CHA Board precedent" on the grounds that proper notice was not provided for the resolution to appoint a CEO.

The mayor also claimed the board's move to appoint Brewer as the agency's operating chairman in September 2025 was illegal, and he declared any actions brewer took are quote "null and void."

Brewer responded to the mayor's actions with a statement reading in part, "the mayor may disagree with the outcome, but rewriting the facts doesn't change them and mischaracterizing the law does not change the actual law."

Brewer said his choice to run for the fifth-floor City Hall office now occupied by Mayor Johnson is not connected to that spat, and is not a "spite campaign."

"During that time that I ran the CHA, and just my experiences in Chicago, increasingly, I've had hundreds of conversations with people who feel like they're not seen and heard, and that the city is not operating with them in mind," Brewer said. "And whether it's a conversation about housing, housing is at the hub of a lot of different things — the intersection of transportation and public safety, economic mobility, a lot of core issues circulate around housing. And so I've had these conversations with people who feel like they're not seen, they're not heard, feeling stuck — and from my own life experiences, I know that same feeling. And that's why I'm running, because there's an opportunity to address that, provide opportunity, and again, move Chicago forward without leaving people behind."

Mayor Johnson has not yet announced whether he is running for a second term. Thus, for at least for now, Brewer wis the only Black candidate in the contest for mayor for 2027. He was asked if that could help his campaign.

"I have no idea whether [Johnson] will run, but it's important to me to represent Black people, as well as all people," Brewer said.

Brewer was also asked where he stands on the political spectrum, as Mayor Johnson and Mayor Lori Lightfoot before him were both elected on progressive platforms. Brewer did not identify a political label with which he would associate himself, but he did outline his policy positions.

"The thing that I love is that I'm not a career politician. And I think some people will say that that's a strike against me. I think it's a pro. I'm all about affordable housing. I'm all about making sure we don't leave people behind. I'm all about making sure we address crime, transportation, infrastructure, root causes of issues in our communities," Brewer said. "But at the same time, the city has to grow. Part of how we und that is by having a thriving, booming city that attracts businesses. It's a place where businesses can start, where they can stay, where they can operate, where we bring in more people, increase the tax base, increase revenue."