DeKalb alderman John Walker to challenge mayor for office in 2025

DeKALB – DeKalb 7th Ward Alderman John Walker on Wednesday announced his plan to run for mayor in 2025 in front of a standing-room only crowd at Fatty’s Pub and Grille.

He was joined by friends, family and colleagues in marking the occasion.

In prepared remarks, Walker said he consulted with his wife and realized he wants more of a leadership role on the council. Walker works for UPS, owns a tenant advocacy business and also runs the Youth Pride Foundation, a sports youth camp for area kids.

“The relationships and friendships I’ve made both at work and in this town have been huge blessings in my life,” Walker said. “I have met and made lots of friends on the job as I have delivered to so many of the same people over the years. Connections formed and I began looking at this town outside of myself, and through others’ eyes. They would share with me what was happening around town. That is where my interest for this town developed, and it has grown from there. Those relationships and conversations are what led me here, to this point.”

Walker is entering a crowded field in the spring made up by incumbent mayor Cohen Barnes and former League of Women Voters president Linh Nguyen.

Nguyen, an educator at Northern Illinois University, announced her candidacy June 28. Barnes, owner of Sundog IT and a DeKalb native, announced his reelection bid in April.

In an interview with Shaw Local News Network on Wednesday night, Walker said he believes he has what it takes to separate himself from the competition.

“Honestly, I’m just authentic and I’m transparent,” Walker said.

Walker also served on the city’s DeKalb Human Relations Commission, Juvenile Justice Council, DeKalb Police Chief Search Committee, was an inaugural member of the city’s DeKalb Police Citizen Review Board, and DeKalb County Swift, Certain and Fair Committee.

Mayoral races are nonpartisan.

Candidates for the spring 2025 consolidated election can’t begin circulating petitions until Aug. 20. The first day to file candidacy papers for the April 1, 2025, election is Nov. 12.

When asked if he and Nguyen are jockeying for the same voters, Walker said he didn’t think so.

“Just because we’re people of color doesn’t mean we’re fighting over the same people,” Walker said. “Black people, white people, Latino people, they can vote for me. They can vote for her. It doesn’t matter. It’s about the policy and what you want to do to try to make the town better.”

The 2025 mayoral race could be historic: In the city’s history, all DeKalb mayors have been white. Most men, with the exception of three women, according to the city’s archives.

Nguyen immigrated to the U.S. from Vietnam, an experience she highlighted in her own mayoral announcement. Walker, who is Black, said he believes DeKalb is ready for a mayor who is a person of color.

“DeKalb is definitely ready for that, for sure,” Walker said. “They’re ready for just about whatever DeKalb has to offer. It’s ready for a woman, which we already had one. It’s ready for any type of minority.”

Walker said it would be a big deal for him to become mayor.

“This is my hometown and for the people to support and get behind me, help me, push me over the finish line, would mean everything to me,” Walker said. “The one thing that means to me and to my heart, it means they care. If I was to pull this thing out, I honestly don’t know how I would feel, how it would be. There’s no words to explain it. I am what this town is all about: hardworking, fair, authentic, transparent.”