Chicago’s radical Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson has spent huge sums of campaign cash on extravagantly pampering himself since he launched his election bid, financial records show.
According to a new report, Mayor Johnson spent a whopping $30,000 in campaign donations on hair and makeup for himself in one year alone.
The money he spent was donated to the mayor’s Friends of Brandon Johnson campaign fund.
The majority of payments to the fund come in the form of small donations from working-class supporters.
Johnson defeated incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot in 2023.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Johnson blew through vast sums of cash on personal spending while challenging Lightfoot in the mayoral election.
The outlet cited election board records, which revealed that the progressive mayor spent more than $30,000 on personal grooming in the past year.
Almost all of the money was funneled to makeup artist and self-described “skincare enthusiast” Denise Milloy’s Makeup Majic.
Milloy operates out of a home on the South Side.
According to the Sun-Times, Milloy received more than 30 payments from Johnson between 2023 and 2024.
The payments in the expenditure report were listed as “Candidate makeup for TV,” “Candidate makeup for debate,” or “Candidate makeup” prior to the 2023 election.
After the far-left Democrat mayor took office, the payments to the makeup artist were filed under “event expenses,” the newspaper reported.
When reached for comment, Milloy told the Sun-Times she’s “not at liberty” to discuss her work as it pertains to Johnson’s campaign.
Johnson’s campaign has previously touted how a large number of donations came from “working-class people” and labor unions, the Sun-Times recalled.
When questioned about Johnson’s personal grooming and spending habits, Johnson’s campaign adviser Bill Neidhardt told the paper in a written statement:
“The mayor does not spend taxpayer dollars in preparation for the many public appearances and events he attends every day.
“Instead, he is using his own campaign funds to pay black and women-owned businesses a fair wage in compensation for their work in preparing the mayor and individuals associated with the campaign for public appearances, events, media segments, and other availabilities.
Neidhardt added, “Hair and makeup services are commonplace among high-ranking public officials.”
The report also cites a $4,000 payment from Johnson’s campaign to a Palatine, Illinois beauty salon called Anthony Jones Salon on March 27 for “event expenses.”
The salon owner, however, disputed the payment, telling the Sun-Times that he never received the money and has never worked with Johnson’s campaign.
Neidhardt said that the charge was mistakenly filed and that the vendor who filled out the campaign’s finance reports “wrote down the wrong” salon.
AJ Styles Barber & Beauty Salon on the West Side actually received the payment, for “hair and makeup” and was involved in “multiple events,” the Sun-Times reported.
Maintaining his personal appearance seems to have been a greater priority to Johnson than to his predecessor Lightfoot.
Lightfoot, also a radical Democrat, made only four payments to a Chicago business of approximately $2,000 total for “event-makeup services” in her campaign fillings last year, according to the paper.
However, Lightfoot infamously provoked outrage during the Covid pandemic when she broke her own lockdown rules to get a haircut.
Lightfoot was criticized for her actions after previously stating in one of her public service announcements that “getting your roots done is not essential,” according to the Chicago Tribune.
The controversy began when the stylist posted photos with the then-mayor on Facebook, thanking her for her hard work and saying she had the “pleasure of giving Mayor Lightfoot a hair trim.”
“I’m the public face of this city,” Lightfoot said in her defense.
“I’m on national media and I’m out in the public eye.”
