The override vote was 33-17, one vote short of the 34 needed. The measure, led by Ald. Marty Quinn of the 13th Ward, would have set the debt-vote threshold at three-fifths of the council.

Quinn argued the change would help make the council more independent and require a mayor to build broader support for borrowing decisions. Ald. Matt O’Shea of the 19th Ward cited more than $30 billion in outstanding city debt as a reason for stronger oversight.

Opponents framed the measure as a transfer of power from the mayor. Ald. Jason Ervin of the 28th Ward warned that authority can shift through changes to rules, while Ald. David Moore of the 17th Ward described calls urging him to support an override as a bid to keep control of city finances from the mayor.

The debate also became racially charged. Before vetoing the proposal, Johnson called it a “three-fifths compromise,” invoking the constitutional provision that counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for representation and taxation. Johnson and some allies said the proposed reform had racial motives; Quinn defended it as a procedural change requiring four additional votes on debt issues.

Aldermen Chris Taliaferro of the 29th Ward and Julia Ramirez of the 12th Ward were reportedly among those the measure’s supporters sought to persuade before the vote. Both voted in a way that left the override short of the required two-thirds majority.

The vote preserves the existing balance of power over city borrowing, while the dispute underscores continued divisions on the council over oversight, executive authority and race.