Willie Wilson

Willie Wilson (born June 16, 1948) is an American businessman and perennial political candidate from Chicago who is currently running for mayor in the 2027 election. He unsuccessfully ran for the same office in the 2015, 2019, and 2023. He also ran for President of the United States in the 2016 United States presidential election, and for the United States Senate in 2020.

Wilson has owned and operated several different McDonald's restaurant franchises and owns Omar Medical Supplies, which imports and distributes latex gloves and other medical and safety supplies and equipment. He also produces the nationally syndicated gospel music television program Singsation, which won a Chicago/Midwest Emmy Award in 2012.

Early life and education Wilson was born the son of a sharecropper in Louisiana. before dropping out of primary school.

Wilson later received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Mt. Carmel Theological Seminary and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Chicago Baptist Institute International.

Wilson left home at age thirteen, and began his working life earning twenty cents per hour working in cotton and sugar cane fields. Wilson has contended in 5 elections in the United States.

2015 Chicago mayoral campaign

Wilson ran for Mayor of Chicago in 2015, being one of several challengers to incumbent mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Wilson collected 43,000 signatures for his candidature petition within five days. Emanuel issued a challenge to the validity of signatures collected. Emanuel ultimately dropped his challenge to Wilson's petition.

Wilson staked out a number of positions, including advocating for bringing a casino to Chicago and restoring Meigs Field (on Northerly Island) as an airport. Wilson was critical of Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, and pledged to fire him if elected mayor.

Wilson's endorsement in the runoff was actively sought by both candidates Rahm Emanuel and Jesús "Chuy" García. Wilson endorsed García.

2016 U.S. presidential campaign

After setting up an exploratory committee on May 11, 2015, Wilson officially announced on June 1, 2015, that he would be running as a candidate for President of the United States in the 2016 election. He ran as a Democrat.

The Wilson campaign was the first presidential campaign, Democratic or Republican, to buy advertisements in the state of Iowa.

Wilson was on the ballot in several states during the 2016 Democratic primaries. He was the only minor candidate to appear on the ballot in South Carolina's "First in the South" primaries, perhaps due to the comparatively higher cost of the state's ballot entry fee. Wilson received 1,314 votes, or 0.35% of the total, in South Carolina, placing ahead of former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley. Wilson dropped out on April 12, 2016.

In the general election, Wilson voted for Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Detailed below are the FEC-filed finances of Willie Wilson 2016 as of 5/6/2016

During his campaign, Wilson generated controversy for handing out money to churchgoers. This practice of his was challenged before the Illinois State Board of Elections, which found that it did not violate any campaign finance laws since the money came from his non-profit foundation. Wilson defended his actions, declaring that his church appearances were not campaign-related, and that he was not buying votes. He continued this practice after the decision by the Board of Elections.

During the campaign, in late November 2018, Wilson declared that he believed that other black candidates needed, "to get out of the way."

Wilson launched challenges to the candidature petitions of several black candidates, and Dorothy Brown.

Wilson failed to make it to the runoff, placing fourth with 59,072 votes, equal 10.61% of vote cast. Wilson performed very well on the West and South sides of the city. Despite placing fourth, Wilson had a plurality of the vote in more wards than any other candidate (he came first in thirteen wards). The thirteen wards that Wilson carried a plurality of the vote in were all predominately black (these being thirteen out of the total of eighteen wards in the city that are predominately black).

Again, Wilson's endorsement was actively sought by both candidates in the runoff. Wilson endorsed Lori Lightfoot.

2020 U.S. Senate campaign

In August 2019, Wilson expressed his intention to challenge incumbent United States Senator from Illinois Dick Durbin in 2020, running in the general election as an independent challenger to Durbin. Rather than run as an independent, he ultimately opted to run under the ballot line of his newly created "Willie Wilson Party".

Wilson received the support of three current and former Chicago aldermen, as well as that of the Fraternal Order of Police.

Wilson received 4% of the vote statewide, finishing in a distant third place. His highest support came from the majority-black wards of Chicago where he had done well in both his mayoral campaigns. Totaling up all 18 of Chicago's majority-black wards, Wilson garnered 18.5% of the vote, well ahead of Republican Mark Curran, who received only 4%, but still far behind Durbin who received 75.9%. and food donations.

Wilson’s campaign cited key issues in his platform as being small businesses, increasing safety, and ‘rebuilding’ Chicago. Wilson advocated for increased safety on public transport, crime reduction, tax reduction, and opposing corruption. He also supported the abolishment of red-light traffic cameras, parking meter reform, and other issues.

Wilson accused incumbent mayor Lori Lightfoot of mismanagement, especially relating to gas prices and economic reinvigoration. He also called out corruption in the city, and said some officials were “out of touch” with the public. Wilson criticized earlier decisions to implement previous safety measures amid the COVID-19 pandemic that had the impact of temporary prohibiting church gatherings. Wilson spoke positively of the Chicago Police Department.

Wilson was considered to be the only of the nine candidates on the ballot not to be affiliated with the Democratic Party, though the election is officially nonpartisan.

In the initial round of the election, Wilson was defeated, placing fifth of nine candidates with 49,248 votes (9.57% of the election's overall vote). A week after the first round, Wilson subsequently endorsed Paul Vallas in the runoff election.

2027 Chicago mayoral election

In May 2026, Wilson launched an exploratory committee for a potential fourth mayoral campaign in the 2027 mayoral election. He formally announced his candidacy on August 5, 2026.

Personal life Wilson is married to Janette Wilson. As of 2023, he lives in Chicago's downtown.

In his 2023 mayoral campaign, Wilson described himself as "pro policeman". However, in 2018, Wilson declared that he had changed his mind on the issue of same-sex marriage, declaring that he now believes that, "everybody is entitled to do whatever they want to do and be with whoever they want to be."

Votes % Votes % Rahm Emanuel (incumbent)

Jesús "Chuy" García

Willie Wilson

Robert W. "Bob" Fioretti

William "Dock" Walls, III

Write-ins

Total

2019 Chicago mayoral electionCandidateGeneral Election Runoff Election Votes%Votes% Lori Lightfoot 97,667 17.54 386,039 73.70 Toni Preckwinkle 89,343 16.04 137,765 26.30 William Daley 82,294 14.78 Willie Wilson 59,072 10.61 Susana Mendoza 50,373 9.05 Amara Enyia 44,589 8.00 Jerry Joyce 40,099 7.20 Gery Chico 34,521 6.20 Paul Vallas 30,236 5.43 Garry McCarthy 14,784 2.66 La Shawn K. Ford 5,606 1.01 Robert "Bob" Fioretti 4,302 0.77 John Kolzar 2,349 0.42 Neal Sales-Griffin 1,523 0.27 Write-ins 86 0.02 Total 556,844 100 523,804 100

2023 Chicago mayoral election Candidate General election Runoff election Votes % Votes % Brandon Johnson 122,093 21.63 319,481 52.16 Paul Vallas 185,743 32.90 293,033 47.84 Lori Lightfoot (incumbent) 94,890 16.81 Chuy García 77,222 13.68 Willie Wilson 51,567 9.13 Ja'Mal Green 12,257 2.17 Kam Buckner 11,092 1.96 Sophia King 7,191 1.27 Roderick Sawyer 2,440 0.43 Write-ins 29 0.00 Total 564,524 100.00 612,514 100.00

2016 Democratic presidential primaries A. Counting Uncommitted as having placed 3rd B. Counting Uncommitted, No Preference, and scattering, respectively, as placing 4th, 6th, and 7th

United States Senate