The field of mayoral candidates has narrowed from nine to two: Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson and former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas. One will be the next mayor of Chicago, but both are getting big help from their financial backers for TV advertising, campaign work and events. The winner will be decided on April 4.

Campaign contribution limits were lifted just days after the Feb. 28 election when Johnson and Vallas were declared the two top vote-getters. That’s when Vallas lent $100,100 to his mayoral campaign fund, a move designed to lift the restrictions on how much money both he and opponent Johnson can receive from contributors.

Since then millions of dollars have poured into the race.

Contributors have given a combined $9.2 million to both campaigns since the mayoral runoff began this month. And with about two weeks to go until Election Day, contributions will undoubtedly continue to stream in.

Vallas has been the big winner in total dollars since the runoff started. His Vallas for Mayor campaign fund has received close to $5.7 million in contributions, bringing the 69-year-old’s total fundraising dollars to $12.1 million since the start of his campaign in June 2022.

Vallas has managed to amass his millions with the help of big-name contributors such as Craig Duchossois, executive at The Duchossois Group, who contributed $500,000 to Vallas earlier this month. He’s also gotten help from Gerald Beeson, the chief operating officer of the former Chicago investment firm Citadel, who has contributed $300,000 since November and Michael Keiser, owner of Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, who has contributed $900,000 since Vallas launched his campaign.

But Vallas isn’t the only one raking in the big bucks. In the weeks since the February election, Johnson’s contributors have given his Friends of Brandon Johnson campaign more than $3.5 million. In total, the 46-year-old Cook County commissioner has collected $7.6 million from his supporters.

Unlike Vallas, the progressive candidate has received his financial backing from labor groups such as the American Federation of Teachers, Service Employees International Union and Chicago Teachers Union, which just last week contributed $1.2 million to Johnson’s campaign.

The battle for City Hall is on: Paul Vallas will face Brandon Johnson to become Chicago’s next mayor. Read more here >>>

The mayoral runoff election will be held on April 4, 2023.

[ Chicago’s runoff election: A voter’s guide for mayor and City Council elections on April 4  ]