MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is facing scrutiny over his $30,000 hair and makeup budget, with some amounts seemingly unpaid to the establishments listed as recipients. However, Johnson’s campaign advisor said that the discrepancy resulted from a vendor who put the wrong name in the disclosure filing sent to the State of Illinois.

As the Chicago Sun-Times reports, in response to questions about a $4,000 payment to Anthony Jones Salon, which the proprietor told the outlet he never received, Bill Neidhardt, Johnson’s campaign advisor, told the outlet: “The vendor that does our expenditure reports, we gave them the name of the business and they wrote down the wrong one.” Neidhardt also indicated that the filing “will be amended” to reflect that the money was actually spent with AJ Styles Barber and Beauty Salon.

According to elections board records obtained by the outlet, the progressive mayor pays for his personal grooming appointments with money contributed by supporters of Johnson’s Friends of Brandon Johnson campaign fund. Over the past year, grooming payments, including haircuts and skincare, totaled in excess of $30,000.