South Side preacher Bishop Larry Trotter on Sunday endorsed Brandon Johnson in the April 4 mayoral runoff, calling him the “right person” for City Hall.

“He has a plan. And it’s fresh, it’s new,” Trotter told his congregation at Sweet Holy Spirit Church, 8621 S. South Chicago Ave.

“I just think this is an hour we should put the right people — the qualified people and the people who love God — in office,” he said.

Trotter had endorsed businessman Willie Wilson in the Feb. 28 municipal election, but Wilson failed to make the runoff. The minister said Wilson urged him to follow suit in endorsing Paul Vallas, but Trotter broke with Wilson and endorsed his rival.

“It is very clear that I supported Dr. Willie Wilson. And he’s a friend of ours — a friend to this church — and remains a friend,” Trotter said.

At the pulpit, Johnson spoke briefly about his political awakening 15 years ago as a Chicago Public Schools middle-school teacher at Cabrini Green.

“It’s there where my politics begin to transform. Because my students could look out their back windows and see one of the wealthiest communities in the world, while out their back windows bulldozers stared them down, preparing to destroy their public housing,” Johnson said.

“I’m running to become the next mayor of the Chicago to finally retire this tale of two cities and usher in one story for one Chicago,” he said.

Johnson challenged Vallas’ tough-on-crime messaging by saying as a resident of Austin, he is the candidate with the most motivation to improve public safety.

“It is one of the more violent neighborhoods of the entire city. No one in this race has more incentive for a better, stronger, safer Chicago that someone who was raising a family on the West Side of Chicago,” Johnson said.

Trotter has been pastor at Sweet Holy Spirit Church for 40 years. He has worked with the campaigns of the late former Mayor Harold Washington and former President Barack Obama, according to his church’s online biography.

Vallas endorsed by Ald. Matt O’Shea, others

Meanwhile, Southwest Side Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th) endorsed Vallas Sunday as the South Side Irish Parade stepped off in Beverly.

Vallas was expected to garner more support later Sunday from a group of Black and Hispanic leaders in Englewood including Terry Peterson, former chairman of the Chicago Transit Authority; Ald. Ray Lopez (15th); Melissa Johnson, president of Just Equality Systems for Us; and former 28th Ward aldermanic candidate Shawn Walker.