Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza announced Wednesday she will again run for mayor of Chicago, marking the biggest entry yet in a sure to be crowded field of candidates.

Mendoza, the state’s chief fiscal manager since 2016, made the announcement in a campaign ad posted on YouTube Wednesday morning. In the ad, she touted herself as ready to address the city’s financial woes and heal its political divides.

“Chicagoans are tired of paying more and getting less, tired of politics that divides people without solving problems,” she said. “Chicago doesn’t need bigger promises, it needs proven, competent leadership that delivers real progress people can actually feel in every neighborhood for every family.”

It will be a second shot at the fifth floor for Mendoza, who placed fifth in the first round of the city’s 2019 election ultimately won by Lori Lightfoot.

For the moderate Democrat who previously served as city clerk and a state representative, the official entry in the race was a long time coming.

Mendoza has carefully positioned herself as a critic of Mayor Brandon Johnson in recent months, pushing herself into city issues far from the purview of her statewide office.

She published a Tribune op-ed Tuesday addressed to Chicago Public Schools educators that called for open dialogue about how to improve the school district. On Monday, she made headlines by going on Fox 32 Chicago to call for tougher law enforcement to break up large youth gatherings.

“We don’t see our government doing that,” she said. “That means arresting kids, even holding parents accountable if their children are committing this type of action.”

Later that day, she posted a video to social media depicting her standing on a concrete road island outside the Millennium Park garages. A driver in a white car stopped.

“You’ve got my vote girl,” he shouted.

It was just one of the dozens of videos Mendoza has posted in recent months showing her visiting neighborhood businesses or sharing thoughts on how Chicago’s biggest challenges should be tackled.

But the toying has ended, and with Wednesday’s announcement, the first high-profile candidate has officially entered the 2027 mayoral race.

Johnson, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley have publicly signaled plans to run. Downtown Ald. Bill Conway and veteran lobbyist John Kelly have also hinted at entering the race. Entrepreneurs Joe Holberg and Liam Stanton have declared runs.

Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias has dominated fundraising among potential candidates. His war chest grew to $18.3 million last quarter, mostly because of contributions from high-dollar Democratic megadonors and trades unions that Mendoza had surely hoped to court.

Mendoza had $1.6 million in her state campaign account at the time, the second-largest sum among declared or potential candidates.

By announcing now, Mendoza could hope to lock down support from moderate voters who Giannoulias would also see as an important part of his base in the city.

In 2019, Mendoza appeared an early mayoral favorite, but her campaign was upended by the corruption probe that landed former Ald. Ed Burke in prison.

Mendoza’s ties to Burke, who backed her first Illinois House races and hosted her wedding at his Southwest Side Home, became a key point of attack for other candidates, who painted her as a product of Chicago’s Democratic machine.

But on Wednesday, Mendoza pitched herself as unburdened by political connections.

“I believe government should answer to the people it serves, not political insiders or special interests,” she said.

She focused her campaign launch on the city’s neighborhoods, including her own upbringing in Little Village as the daughter of two Mexican immigrants.

Mendoza did not name specific policy priorities in the announcement video. Instead, she touted key policy wins from her 27-year career in elected offices, including the modernization of the city’s vehicle sticker program from her time as clerk and her efforts to eliminate a towering backlog of bills as comptroller.

With experience like that, Mendoza argued, she can come in and put the city on stable ground.

“Every neighborhood in this city carries its own story. But no matter where we come from, we all want the same things,” she said. “We’re tired of paying for big promises that are never kept. Chicago deserves more than promises, it deserves progress.”