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First, Arne Duncan decided not to run for mayor. The former U.S. education secretary said he wanted to stay focused on his anti-violence work.

Next, U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley said he was out. He needs to stick with the congressional effort to protect Ukraine from Russia, he said.

The leaders among those still lining up are well known but well worn. There’s Paul Vallas, a former Chicago schools chief with an 0-for-2 record in runs for mayor and governor. And Gery Chico may run — another former schools chief with his own 0-for-3 tally in bids for Senate and mayor.

The others hitting the hustings are less a “Who’s who” and more like a “Who’s kidding whom?” State Rep. Kam Buckner, police union President John Catanzara, Ald. Ray Lopez and businessman Willie Wilson likely don’t have a chance of beating Lightfoot.

Read more at the chicagotribune.com.

David Greising is the president and chief executive of the Better Government Association, joining the BGA in 2018. For nearly a century, the BGA has fought for honest and effective government through investigative journalism and policy advocacy.

Greising’s career started at the City News Bureau of Chicago, with stops at the Chicago Sun-Times, Business Week magazine, the Chicago Tribune and Reuters. He was a co-founder of the Chicago News Cooperative and worked briefly as a consultant to World Business Chicago. Today, Greising writes on government issues in regular columns for the Tribune and Crain’s Chicago Business.

Under Greising’s leadership, the BGA has played a key role in uncovering public corruption amidst the wide-ranging federal probe, starting with an in-depth report about Ald. Ed Burke’s conflicts of interest before the federal charges against Burke. The BGA also has exposed waste and fraud at O’Hare and the proliferation of corruption and poverty into Dolton, Lyons and other Chicago suburbs. The BGA’s policy team has led calls for ethics reform in Chicago’s City Council and in state government.