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1989 Chicago mayoral special election

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1989 Chicago mayoral special election

← 1987 April 4, 1989 1991 →
Turnout68.3%[1] Decrease 5.78 pp
 
Nominee Richard M. Daley Timothy C. Evans Ed Vrdolyak
Party Democratic Harold Washington Republican
Popular vote 577,141 428,105 35,998
Percentage 55.43% 41.11% 3.46%

Results by ward

Mayor before election

Eugene Sawyer
Democratic

Elected Mayor

Richard M. Daley
Democratic

The Chicago mayoral election of 1989 saw Democratic nominee Richard M. Daley win election to the remainder of an unexpired mayoral term with a 14% margin of victory. This marked a return for the Daley family to the office of mayor. Daley was elected over Alderman Timothy Evans, the nominee of the newly formed Harold Washington Party, and the Republican nominee Ed Vrdolyak.[2]

The election was held two years earlier than the next regularly scheduled mayoral election due to the death in office of Harold Washington. Eugene Sawyer had been appointed Mayor by the City Council to serve until the special election. He was defeated by Daley in the Democratic primary.

Background

[edit]

A lawsuit was filed by an anti-Sawyer coalition of black activists and several Harold Washington supporters demanding a special election be held as soon as possible.[3]

On May 5, 1988, Eugene Wachowski, judge of the Cook County Circuit Court, held that a special election would be required to be held in 1989 on the basis of three previous rulings by Circuit, Appellate, and Supreme Court judges and by a 1978 legislative debate from when the Illinois General Assembly passed the then-current election law.[4][5]

Nominations

[edit]

Democratic primary

[edit]

Richard M. Daley won the Democratic primary, defeating Eugene Sawyer, who had been appointed mayor by City Council following the death of Harold Washington. He also faced Sheila A. Jones[6] and James C. Taylor[6][7] (State Senator who had also been chief of staff in Jane Byrne's mayoral administration).[6]

Candidates

[edit]

Withdrew

Denied ballot access

Campaign

[edit]

While Daley was considered a poor public speaker, and sometimes a timid campaigner, he ran an effective campaign.[3] In 1983, he was widely viewed merely as the son of the former mayor Richard J. Daley.[3] In 1987, he had crafted an image of a strong public administrator.[3] Daley's campaign was run by two young consultants that had previously worked on Paul Simon's 1984 United States Senate campaign, David Wilhelm and David Axelrod.[3] His deputy campaign manager was Julie Hamos.[3] His fundraising was headed by John Schmidt and Paul Stepan.[3] Avis LaVelle served as his campaign press spokesperson.[3]

One of Sawyer's first missteps was his choice for campaign leadership. Sawyer's campaign was managed by Louisiana political consultant Reynard Rochon.[3][14] Rochon, being an outsider to Chicago politics, did not understand many important aspects of it.[3] Additionally, Rochon spent much of his time working remotely from New Orleans.[3] Sawyer did raise significant funds for his candidacy,[3] but was also hampered by his personality — Sawyer was a low-key individual and eschewed interviews.[3]

A media consultant was brought from Boston to film campaign commercials for Sawyer. Most of the ads were positive, highlighting the accomplishments of Sawyer's brief tenure.[3] However, there were a few ads that attacked Daley by portraying him as stupid and unable to complete a sentence on his own.[3] The campaign overspent on media advertising and failed to spend enough on literature, field operations, and lawn signs.[3] Ultimately, Sawyer's campaign lacked a strong field operation.[3]

The African-American anti-Sawyer faction, whose members were responsible for the lawsuit that led to the special election being ordered, rallied around Alderman Timothy C. Evans, whom they viewed as the proper heir to Washington's political legacy.[3] Evans' allies criticized Sawyer; one of them, Dorothy Tillman, called the mayor an "Uncle Tom."[3] Another alderman in Evans' camp was Bobby Rush.[3] In July 1988, after receiving months of attacks from pro-Evans aldermen, Sawyer retaliated by stripping them of their committee chairmanships in a City Council restructuring.[3][15]

African-American support was reported to be split between Sawyer and Evans.[16] Sawyer attempted to broker a deal to get Evans to withdraw from the primary,[3] but in a stroke of luck for Sawyer, Evans was ultimately removed from the ballot.[16] Evans ultimately appeared on the November ballot as the candidate of the Harold Washington Party.

In December, Edward M. Burke withdrew from the race and endorsed Daley.[9][17][10] Just under two weeks before the day of the primary, Alderman Lawrence S. Bloom withdrew his candidacy and endorsed Sawyer.[11] Bloom had entered the race in September 1988 and had originally started his campaign near the front of the pack, benefiting from what the press referred to as a "squeaky clean" reputation.[18]

During the campaign, Daley and Sawyer avoided lodging personal attacks, and both called for racial harmony.[19]

Endorsements

[edit]
Lawrence Bloom withdrew

Newspapers

Richard M. Daley

Officeholders

Individuals

Eugene Sawyer

Officeholders

  • Lawrence S. Bloom, Chicago alderman, formerly a candidate for mayor[11]

Individuals

Results

[edit]
Results map of the Democratic primary by ward
Democratic primary results[23]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Richard M. Daley 485,182 55.63
Democratic Eugene Sawyer (incumbent) 383,535 43.98
Democratic James C. Taylor 2,233 0.26
Democratic Sheila A. Jones 1,160 0.13
Total votes 872,110 100.00

Daley won a majority of the vote in 31 of the city's 50 wards, with Sawyer winning a majority of the vote in the remaining 19 wards.[23]

Results by ward[23]

Voter turnout was 200,000 less in the primary than it had been in the regularly-scheduled mayoral primary two years prior.[19] The decrease was even more pronounced in black neighborhoods than it had been in white neighborhoods.[19]

According to a New York TimesWBBM-TV poll found that Daley received 91% of the white vote, to Sawyers 8%.[19] It found, in contrast, that Sawyer received 94% of the black vote, to Daley's 5%.[19] The poll also found that Jewish and Hispanic voters, who Sawyer had hoped to capture the support of, had strongly went for Daley.[19] It found that Daley got 83% of the Jewish vote, to Sawyer's 15%.[19] It also found that Daley got 84% of the Hispanic vote, to Sawyer's 15%.[19] Additionally, the poll found that three-fourths of whites that had previously voted for Harold Washington voted for Daley.[19]

Republican primary

[edit]

Candidates

[edit]

Write-in candidates

Withdrew

Denied ballot access

Campaign

[edit]

Less than two weeks before the day of the primary election, a movement emerged to draft 1987 Illinois Solidarity Party nominee Edward Vrdolyak as a write-in candidate for the Republican primary.[11] Vrdolyak obliged, launching a last-minute a write-in campaign for the nomination only a week before the late February primary.[42][43]

He defeated the GOP-backed Sohn by more than a thousand votes, which put him out of reach of the 5% spread for a recount to be triggered. Nearly 5000 of Vdrolyak's votes, representing close to half of his total, came from the 10th Ward he represented.[44][45]

An additional candidate seeking the nomination, John Holowinski,[28] had withdrawn from the race in late January.[29] Former parks superintendent Edmund Kelly was another individual who was initially a candidate but withdrew before the primary.[30]

Results

[edit]
Republican primary results[24][45]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Edward Vrdolyak 11,621 46.81
Republican Herbert Sohn 10,478[a] 42.22
Republican Kenneth R. Hurst 1,581 6.369
Republican William J. Grutzmacher 1,142 4.6
Total votes 24,821[b] 100.00

Harold Washington Party nomination

[edit]

Timothy C. Evans, who had been unable to run for the Democratic nomination due to issues regarding his petition,[12] received the Harold Washington Party's nomination.

Independent candidates

[edit]

Independent candidate Peter Davis Kauss saw his name excluded from the ballot due to issues with his petition.[46]

General election

[edit]

Results

[edit]

Daley won the election by a fourteen-point margin.

Daley became the fifth (and, currently, the most recent) mayor to come from the city's Bridgeport neighborhood (after Edward J. Kelly, Martin H. Kennelly, Richard J. Daley, and Michael Bilandic).[47]

Mayor of Chicago 1989 special election[48] (general election)
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Richard M. Daley 577,141 55.43
Harold Washington Timothy C. Evans 428,105 41.11
Republican Edward Vrdolyak 35,998 3.46
Turnout 1,041,244

Daley carried a majority of the vote in 31 of the city's 50 wards, with Evans carrying a majority of the vote in the remaining 19 wards.[49]

Vroldyak only saw double-digit percentage of the votes in the 10th ward, which he had previously represented as an alderman. Elsewhere he saw only single-digit percentage of the vote.[49]

Results by ward[49]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ ChicagoDemocracy.org reports Sohn getting 10,503 votes, while UPI reports the 10,478 figure
  2. ^ This number assumes Sohn received 10,478 votes. The total is 24,846 if Sohn received 10,503 votes.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Denvir, Daniel (May 22, 2015). "Voter Turnout in U.S. Mayoral Elections Is Pathetic, But It Wasn't Always This Way". Bloomberg.com. City Lab (The Atlantic). Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  2. ^ "Our Campaigns - Chicago Mayor Race - Apr 04, 1989".
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Green, Paul M.; Holli, Melvin G. (January 10, 2013). The Mayors: The Chicago Political Tradition, fourth edition. SIU Press. pp. 218–221, 223, 226. ISBN 9780809331994. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  4. ^ Mount, Charles (May 7, 1988). "MAYORAL ELECTION SET FOR 1989". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
  5. ^ Mount, Charles; Hardy, Thomas (May 7, 1988). "JUDGE SETS 1989 RACE FOR MAYOR". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d e "JAMES TAYLOR, FORMER STATE SENATOR". Chicago Tribune. March 20, 1999. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  7. ^ a b "State of Illinois, County of Cook, Case No: 88-EB-SMAY-19" (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. January 20, 1989.
  8. ^ Lipinski, Ann Marie (February 16, 1989). "TAYLOR'S STILL IN THE RUN, AND THAT'S NO JIVE". Chicago Tribune.
  9. ^ a b c Weinraub, Bernard (September 19, 1988). "Campaign Trail; In Chicago Politics, Never a Dull Moment". The New York Times. p. 16. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  10. ^ a b c "One Chicago candidate quits, throws his support to Daley". St. Petersburg Times. December 13, 1988.
  11. ^ a b c d Schmidt, William E. (February 16, 1988). "Campaign Trail in Chicago's Mayoral Race Takes a Pair of Twists". New York Times. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  12. ^ a b "State of Illinois, County of Cook, Case No: 88-EB-SMAY-25" (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. January 19, 1989.
  13. ^ "State of Illinois, County of Cook, Case No: 88-EB-SMAY-9" (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. January 19, 1989.
  14. ^ Dold, R. Bruce (December 25, 1988). "SAWYER PUTS HOPES IN HANDS OF GAMBLER". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
  15. ^ "Chicago Mayor Purges Foes". The New York Times. The Associated Press. July 15, 1988. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
  16. ^ a b "The mayoral race swings into high gear | The Crusader Newspaper Group". Chicago Crusader. January 31, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
  17. ^ Neal, Steve (December 11, 1988). "Burke will drop mayor bid, likely back Daley". Chicago Sun-Times.
  18. ^ "Lawrence Bloom for Mayor?". October 27, 1988.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Johnson, Dirk (March 1, 1989). "Daley Wins Primary in Chicago; Mayoral Vote Is Racially Divided". The New York Times. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  20. ^ Lipinski, Ann Marie (February 8, 1989). "LAWRENCE BLOOM". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  21. ^ Casuso, Jorge (February 13, 1989). "GUTIERREZ'S TURNABOUT HAS HEADS SPINNING". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  22. ^ McClell, Edward (February 19, 2019). "The Last Time a Celebrity Backed a Mayoral Candidate, They Won". Chicago magazine. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  23. ^ a b c "Election Results for 1989 Primary Election, Mayor, Chicago, Illinois (Democratic Party)". Archived from the original on February 28, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  24. ^ a b c "Election Results for 1989 Primary Election, Mayor, Chicago, Illinois (Republican Party)". Archived from the original on November 30, 2018. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  25. ^ a b "State of Illinois, County of Cook, Case No: 88-EB-SMAY-1" (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. January 19, 1989.
  26. ^ "State of Illinois, County of Cook, Case No: 88-EB-SMAY-18" (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. January 19, 1989.
  27. ^ "State of Illinois, County of Cook, Case No: 88-EB-SMAY-11" (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. January 19, 1989.
  28. ^ a b "State of Illinois, County of Cook, Case No: 88-EB-SMAY-15" (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. January 19, 1989.
  29. ^ a b "Candidate Drops Gop Mayoral Bid". Chicago Tribune. January 28, 1989.
  30. ^ a b "Ed Kelly Plans Race for Mayor". Chicago Tribune. September 29, 1988.
  31. ^ "Ald. Stone In Runoff For Second Time". CBS Chicago. February 23, 2011. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  32. ^ "State of Illinois, County of Cook, Case No: 88-EB-SMAY-8" (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. January 19, 1989.
  33. ^ "State of Illinois, County of Cook, Case No: 88-EB-SMAY-16" (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. January 19, 1989.
  34. ^ "State of Illinois, County of Cook, Case No: 88-EB-SMAY-14" (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. January 19, 1989.
  35. ^ "State of Illinois, County of Cook, Case No: 88-EB-SMAY-7" (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. January 19, 1989.
  36. ^ "State of Illinois, County of Cook, Case No: 88-EB-SMAY-17" (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. January 19, 1989.
  37. ^ "State of Illinois, County of Cook, Cases No: 88-EB-SMAY-5 & No: 88-EB-SMAY-13" (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. January 19, 1989.
  38. ^ "State of Illinois, County of Cook, Case No: 88-EB-SMAY-6" (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. January 19, 1989.
  39. ^ "State of Illinois, County of Cook, Case No: 88-EB-SMAY-12" (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. January 19, 1989.
  40. ^ "State of Illinois, County of Cook, Case No: 88-EB-SMAY-10" (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. January 19, 1989.
  41. ^ "State of Illinois, County of Cook, Case No: 88-EB-SMAY-4" (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. January 19, 1989.
  42. ^ Harrison, Eric (February 23, 1989). "Vrdolyak Making GOP Write-In Bid in Chicago Mayoral Primary". Los Angeles Times.
  43. ^ "Ex-Democrat Joins Chicago's G.O.P. Race". The New York Times. February 23, 1989.
  44. ^ "Daley Defeats Sawyer in Mayor Race in Chicago". Los Angeles Times. March 1, 1989. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  45. ^ a b Beary, Jack. "Endorsed Republican mayoral contender Herbert Sohn Friday conceded the..." UPI. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  46. ^ "State of Illinois, County of Cook, Case No: 88-EB-SIM-1" (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. February 23, 1989.
  47. ^ Political History of Bridgeport
  48. ^ "Board of Election Commissioners For the City of Chicago Mayoral Election Results Since 1900 General Elections Only". Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. July 18, 2004. Archived from the original on July 18, 2004. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  49. ^ a b c "Election Results for 1989 Special Election, Mayor, Chicago, Illinois". Archived from the original on June 21, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2024.