1939 Chicago mayoral election

none January 2025 September 2023 1939 Chicago mayoral election Chicago presidential 1933 no 1935 1943 April 5, 1939 EdwardJKelly.jpg Edward J. Kelly Democratic Party (United States) 822,469 56.12% File:Dwight H. Green cph.3b30070 (a).jpg Dwight H. Green Republican Party (United States) 638,068 43.54% Mayor Edward J. Kelly Democratic Party (United States) Edward J. Kelly Democratic Party (United States) The Chicago mayoral election of 1939 was held on April 5, 1939. The election saw incumbent Edward J. Kelly being reelected to a second full term (third overall term), defeating Dwight H. Green by a double-digit margin. Both major parties held primary elections to determine their nominees. The primaries were held on February 28, 1939. Kelly won renomination in the Democratic Party primary against Thomas J. Courtney, the Cook County state's attorney. In his candidacy, Courtney had sought to challenge the city's Democratic political machine. In the Republican Party primary, Green won a massive victory over former mayor William Hale Thompson. Green would be elected Governor of Illinois one year later. Nominations Democratic primary Incumbent Democrat Edward J. Kelly had already served for nearly six years, which meant that he was going to tie the record at the time for the most consecutive years spent as mayor (Carter Harrison Jr. had also spent six consecutive years between 1899 and 1905). By seeking election an additional four-year term, Kelly was running to have the longest uninterrupted mayoralty Chicago had ever seen.The Mayors: The Chicago Political Tradition, fourth edition by Paul M. Green, Melvin G. Holli SIU Press, Jan 10, 2013 An additional four years would also tie him with Carter Harrison Jr. for the longest-serving mayor in Chicago history at the time (Harrison had served ten non-consecutive years as mayor). thumb|Poster from Courtney's campaign Kelly fended off a primary challenge from Thomas J. Courtney. Rebellious and reform-oriented Democrats united behind Thomas J. Courtney as a challenger to Kelly and the political machine. Courtney had initially held hopes of aligning himself with Governor Henry Horner. Horner had been engaging in a political feud with Kelly and Chicago Democratic boss Patrick Nash. However, Horner made peace with Chicago's Democratic machine before the mayoral primary, consequentially robbing Courntney of an opportunity to capitalize off of discord between the Chicago political establishment and the state's governor. Illinois: Windy Primary 1939-03-13 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,760901,00.html https://web.archive.org/web/20081214211711/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,760901,00.html dead December 14, 2008 Time 2010-06-29 Despite efforts to draft him,Ickes Asked To Run For Chicago Mayor's Office Lawrence Journal-World - Dec 6, 1938 Harold L. Ickes did not run for the nomination. Results Chicago Democratic mayoral primary (February 28, 1939)RaceID=283330 https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=283330 Our Campaigns December 4, 2018 Democratic Party (United States) Edward J. Kelly (incumbent) 604,000 62.78 Democratic Party (United States) Thomas J. Courtney 358,139 37.22 962,139 Republican primary Dwight H. Green defeated former mayor William Hale Thompson in the Republican primary. Thompson had announced his bid in mid-December 1938.https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=860&dat=19381214&id=l1shAAAAIBAJ&sjid=u4QFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3389,4807941 Ellensburg Daily Record - Google News Archive Search This is regarded to have been the last time that two big-name individuals faced one another in a Republican Chicago mayoral primary.Neal Steve Mayoral Primary To Be Double Feature https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-02-10-8501080691-story.html Chicago Tribune 2 November 2020 10 February 1985 Results Chicago Republican mayoral primary (February 28, 1939)RaceID=283329 https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=283329 Our Campaigns December 4, 2018 Republican Party (United States) Dwight H. Green 211,965 77.27 Republican Party (United States) William H. Thompson 62,352 22.73 274,317 Independent candidacy of Arthur P. Reilly Republicanhttp://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/reilly.html The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Reilly Arthur P. Reilly ran as an independent. General election Republican nominee Dwight H. Green was strong opponent to the incumbent Kelly.Simpson Dick Rogues, Rebels, And Rubber Stamps: The Politics Of The Chicago City Council, 1863 To The Present https://books.google.com/books?id=jQlQDwAAQBAJ Routledge 19 May 2020 en 8 March 2018 9780429977190 Green was a young and talented lawyer, as well as a political reformer. As an assistant district attorney, Green had helped to construct the income tax evasion case which led to mobster Al Capone's imprisonment. Green ran a vigorous campaign which attempted to make the case against Kelly's political campaign for its connections with criminal elements. His campaign also harshly criticized increases in the city tax rate. Green's campaign, in a sense, was a four-month series of attacks on the Kelly-Patrick Nash political machine. Kelly did not respond to Green's criticisms. In fact, for the duration of his campaign, Kelly did not even utter his Republican opponent's name. After his defeat in the primary, Thomas Courtney reluctantly agreed to endorse Kelly. Kelly received the backing of trade unions. By 1939, a significant number of Chicago's African American voters had migrated their support from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party. Kelly would receive at least half the African American vote. Additionally, many of those who supported or benefited from the New Deal policies of Democratic president Franklin Roosevelt supported Kelly's reelection. On the eve of the election, Kelly received a further boost when former United States District Attorney George E. Q. Johnson declared in a radio address that he considered Chicago to no longer be a capital of crime, arguing that the city now led the nation in crime prevention, largely crediting Kelly and the city's police commissioner for this. Results Kelly won the election by a decisive margin and with a record-setting vote total.https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19390405&id=9CJdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tloNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1215,1597390 Lawrence Journal-World - Google News Archive Search The overall vote total in the election was record-setting as well. Mayor of Chicago 1939 electionBoard of Election Commissioners For the City of Chicago Mayoral Election Results Since 1900 General Elections Only http://66.107.4.19/ Chicago Board of Election Commissioners 26 March 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20040718031857/http://66.107.4.19/ July 18, 2004 18 July 2004 dead (General Election) Democratic Party (United States) Edward J. Kelly (incumbent) 822,469 56.12 Republican Party (United States) Dwight H. Green 638,068 43.54 Independent politician Arthur P. Reilly 4,921 0.34 1,465,458 Aftermath Both parties attempted to spin the narrative of the election result to their advantage. Democratic National Committee chairman James Farley declared that "As Illinois goes, so will the nation 1940." However Republicans tried to argue that Green's performance, the best by a Republican Chicago mayoral candidate in a decade, demonstrated that there was promise for Republicans to carry Illinois' 29 electoral votes in 1940. Green would go on to be elected Governor of Illinois the following year. References 2collapsed collapsed Category:Mayoral elections in Chicago Chicago Chicago Category:20th century in Chicago Category:1939 in Chicago Category:William Hale Thompson Category:April 1939 in the United States