Chicago mayor election: 8 candidates participate in forum at Copernicus Center

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Eight candidates in the race for Chicago's next mayor took part in a forum at the Copernicus Center Tuesday night.

The forum was attended by Ja'Mal Green, Johnny Logalbo, Dr. Willie Wilson, Paul Vallas, Roderick Sawyer, Sophia King, Brandon Johnson and Kam Buckner.

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The candidates in attendance addressed the city's budget and taxes.

"I want this city to budget itself correctly, manage the money properly and give back to the people," Logalbo said.

"We have constantly tried to take every dollar out of folks in the city which is running them out and we need to create a new tax base," said Green.

"When you raise taxes you run people out of the city, you run businesses out of the city," said Wilson.

They also spoke about city public transit and crime.

"The way you revitalize the CTA is by making sure that CTA is a safe passage," said Vallas.

"We can have safety and justice; we can uplift our police, we can hold them accountable," King said.

"We have to continue to make connection between the community and police," said Sawyer.

And mental health and social services.

"We need to make sure we have treatment not trauma because we are expecting too much from our police officers," Johnson said.

"The price to do anything is going to be high, but the cost of not doing anything is going to be higher," said Buckner.

Neither Congressman Jesus "Chuy" Garcia nor Mayor Lori Lightfoot were in attendance. Lightfoot's campaign released a new ad thanking her parents.

But a new poll paid for by a union backing Garcia shows him leading the candidate field with 25%, with Lightfoot at 18% and then Vallas and Wilson behind him.

"I think it's, for Lori Lightfoot, it's troubling because she is the incumbent and she has been spending money to get her message out in a way that her opponents have not. But it's early," said ABC7 Political Analyst Laura Washington.

With just over two months to the election, there could still be more changes to come.