1977 Chicago mayoral special election

none January 2025 September 2022 1977 Chicago mayoral special election Chicago presidential no 1975 Chicago mayoral election 1975 1979 Chicago mayoral election 1979 June 7, 1977 40%Denvir Daniel Voter Turnout in U.S. Mayoral Elections Is Pathetic, But It Wasn't Always This Way Bloomberg.com https://www.citylab.com/equity/2015/05/mayoral-election-voting-turnout/393737/ City Lab (The Atlantic) December 11, 2018 May 22, 2015 7.3 pp Judge Michael A. Bilandic.png Michael A. Bilandic Democratic Party (United States) 490,688 77.3% 3x4.svg Dennis H. Block Republican Party (United States) 135,282 21.3% Mayor Michael A. Bilandic (appointed) Democratic Party (United States) Michael A. Bilandic Democratic Party (United States) The Chicago mayoral election of 1977 was a special election held on June 7, 1977, to complete the remainder of the unexpired mayoral term of Richard J. Daley who died of a heart attack in December 1976. The election saw Interim Mayor Michael A. Bilandic win the election. Bliandic defeated Republican city council member Dennis H. Block by a landslide 56% margin.https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=123286 Our Campaigns - Chicago Mayor Race - Jun 07, 1977 www.ourcampaigns.comhttp://archives.chicagotribune.com/1977/06/08/page/1/article/bilandic-winner-with-77-of-vote Bilandic winner with 77% of vote (June 8, 1977) The election was preceded by February primary elections to determine the Democratic Party and Republican Party nominations. Bilandic won a strong victory over several opponents in the Democratic primary, including Congressman Roman Pucinski, State Senator Harold Washington, and former Cook County state's attorney Edward Hanrahan. Block easily defeated three opponents in the Republican primary. Background After the death in office of Richard J. Daley on December 20, 1976, Bilandic had been selected by the Chicago City Council to serve as acting mayor for six months until an election would be held. On December 24, Bilandic told alderman and other city hall leaders that he would not be competing in the upcoming special election for the remainder of Daley's term.Green Paul M. Holli Melvin G. The Mayors: The Chicago Political Tradition, fourth edition https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=-L_shTgapuIC SIU Press 22 May 2020 162–164 January 10, 2013 9780809331994 However, the following week, Bilandic reneged on this pledge, and announced that he would be open to a draft. By 1977, Chicago had not elected a Republican mayor, and had only elected Democratic mayors, for a half-century, with the last Republican elected having been William Hale Thompson in 1927. Dating back to Edward J. Kelly, who took office in 1933, all Chicago mayors up to this point (Kelly, Martin H. Kennelly, Richard J. Daley, and now Bilandic) had hailed in some sense from Bilandic's 11th Ward. Primaries and nominations 47.07% of registered voters participated in the primary elections.Franklin Tim Voter turnout of 80 percent dwarfs record https://www.newspapers.com/image/387728419 subscription Newspapers.com Chicago Tribune 3 April 2023 en February 23, 1983 Democratic primary Candidates Ran Michael A. Bilandic, incumbent acting mayor Edward Hanrahan, former Cook County state's attorney (1968–72) Anthony Robert Martin-Trigona, attorney Roman Pucinski, alderman from the 41st ward since 1973 and former U.S. congressman (1959–1973) Ellis Reid, attorney Harold Washington, state senator Declined to run The following individual was speculated to run, but did not: William Singer, former alderman (1969–1975); candidate for the Democratic mayoral nomination in 1975 Campaign On December 28, 1976 (the same day that Bilandic was appointed acting mayor), alderman Pucinski became the first candidate to formally declare themselves a candidate for the special election.Hartzell Wesley Ten Days in December –The Death of Daley https://www.newspapers.com/image/383974701 Newspapers.com Chicago Tribune 1 November 2024 en January 2, 1977 Two weeks later, Bilandic announced that he would be open to running in the election if drafted to do so. This was despite having promised during negotiations that secured his appointment as acting mayor that he would not run in the special election.Succession of Daley Was Similar https://www.chicagotribune.com/1987/12/03/succession-of-daley-was-similar/ Chicago Tribune 18 October 2024 3 December 1987 Bilandic won the Democratic Party's primary. Bilandic had a well-staged "draft" effort. He won the Cook County Democratic Party central committee's endorsement. Pucinski had entered the race at the point when Bilandic had yet to reverse course on his pledge to not seek election. The party organization had pressured him to drop out of the race for Bilandic's benefit, which he refused to do. Pucinski sought to receive strong support from the city's sizable Polish-American electorage. He also sought to challenge Bilandic to a series of debates, which Bilandic declined. Pucinski was considered Bilandic's foremost opponent in the primary. Puncinski argued that a Bilandic administration would present more, "politics-as-usual". Pucinski focused much of his campaign on addressing the issue of unemployment. He alleged that Bilandic had been using unfair campaign tactics, alleging that Puncinski campaign workers and supporters had received threats from landlords and city inspectors. State Senator Harold Washington's campaign was underfunded and lacked strong organization. He also suffered due to the impact of personal legal issues. He focused his campaign on the black wards of the city's South Side. Washington was an African American, and was counting on receiving strong African American support. Also running was disgraced former Cook County State's Attorney Edward Hanrahan. Minor candidates in the primary were lawyers Anthony R. Martin-Trigona and Ellis E. Reid, the latter of whom was African American. Wanting to be seen by voters as a competent administrator and chief executive, Bilandic refused to be drawn into controversy and largely ignored his opponents. He sought to also present himself as a friend to business and a successful labor mediator. During the campaign, he made appearances at ribbon-cutting ceremonies, charity dinners, and other events. The Washington Post noted that, largely absent from the discourse of the primary, had been the issues of industries leaving the city, public transport, the quality of schools, and racial integration. Results Bilandic won a plurality of the vote in 38 of the city's 50 wards. Pucinski won a plurality of the vote in 7 wards (all on the North and Northwest Sides). Washington won a plurality of the vote in 5 wards. Bilandic had won Southwest Side Polish wards that Pucinski had been counting on winning. After the election results came in, Washington alleged that there had been, "massive vote fraud". |- ! colspan="5" rowspan="1" align="center" |Chicago Democratic Party Mayoral Primary, 1977http://chicagodemocracy.org/ElectionResults.jsp?election=crdd_primary%2Ccrdd_1977_primary_election%2Cil_chi_mayor 1977 Mayor Elections November 30, 2018 November 30, 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20181130113038/http://chicagodemocracy.org/ElectionResults.jsp?election=crdd_primary%2Ccrdd_1977_primary_election%2Cil_chi_mayor dead |- ! colspan="2" rowspan="1" align="left" | Candidate ! width="75" | Votes ! width="30" | % |- | style="color:inherit;background:#3333FF" | | align="left" | Michael A. Bilandic (incumbent) | | % |- | style="color:inherit;background:#3333FF" | | align="left" | Roman Pucinski | | % |- | style="color:inherit;background:#3333FF" | | align="left" | Harold Washington | | % |- | style="color:inherit;background:#3333FF" | | align="left" | Edward Hanrahan | | % |- | style="color:inherit;background:#3333FF" | | align="left" | Anthony Robert Martin-Trigona | | % |- | style="color:inherit;background:#3333FF" | | align="left" | Ellis Reid | | % |- | colspan="2" align="left" | Total | || % |- |} Results by ward Ward Michael Bilandic Roman Pucinski Harold Washington Edward Hanrahan Anthony RobertMartin-trigona Ellis Reid Total Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes 1 7,899 70.1% 1,833 16.3% 1,043 9.3% 374 3.3% 72 0.6% 44 0.4% 11,265 2 5,246 51.3% 1,612 15.8% 2,931 28.6% 173 1.7% 109 1.1% 160 1.6% 10,231 3 4,578 56.8% 1,088 13.5% 2,121 26.3% 116 1.4% 72 0.9% 85 1.1% 8,060 4 4,973 48.2% 1,845 17.9% 3,101 30.1% 186 1.8% 86 0.8% 123 1.2% 10,314 5 3,118 29.6% 2,799 26.6% 3,995 38.0% 250 2.4% 156 1.5% 204 1.9% 10,522 6 4,446 41.4% 1,244 11.6% 4,557 42.4% 135 1.3% 85 0.8% 280 2.6% 10,747 7 3,565 36.1% 2,973 30.1% 2,854 28.9% 257 2.6% 108 1.1% 112 1.1% 9,869 8 5,436 38.4% 1,622 11.5% 6,514 46.1% 161 1.1% 141 1.0% 268 1.9% 14,142 9 3,419 40.3% 1,241 14.6% 3,462 40.8% 157 1.9% 90 1.1% 108 1.3% 8,477 10 11,452 61.4% 4,332 23.2% 1,938 10.4% 690 3.7% 163 0.9% 85 0.5% 18,660 11 22,644 86.8% 2,532 9.7% 369 1.4% 435 1.7% 67 0.3% 45 0.2% 26,092 12 10,480 53.0% 7,884 39.9% 328 1.7% 915 4.6% 144 0.7% 22 0.1% 19,773 13 16,552 62.7% 8,029 30.4% 99 0.4% 1,484 5.6% 209 0.8% 20 0.1% 26,393 14 10,103 60.3% 5,053 30.1% 809 4.8% 649 3.9% 119 0.7% 31 0.2% 16,764 15 7,899 57.6% 2,785 20.3% 2,265 16.5% 587 4.3% 114 0.8% 70 0.5% 13,720 16 5,335 56.4% 1,074 11.3% 2,770 29.3% 125 1.3% 62 0.7% 100 1.1% 9,466 17 3,517 43.1% 1,015 12.4% 3,395 41.6% 93 1.1% 64 0.8% 76 0.9% 8,160 18 11,242 54.9% 4,832 23.6% 2,852 13.9% 1,264 6.2% 178 0.9% 93 0.5% 20,461 19 12,891 63.6% 4,860 24.0% 682 3.4% 1,625 8.0% 173 0.9% 41 0.2% 20,272 20 4,622 50.9% 1,219 13.4% 2,909 32.1% 147 1.6% 79 0.9% 100 1.1% 9,076 21 5,157 39.3% 1,400 10.7% 5,960 45.4% 163 1.2% 143 1.1% 293 2.2% 13,116 22 6,278 55.5% 3,556 31.4% 884 7.8% 470 4.2% 91 0.8% 39 0.3% 11,318 23 12,466 54.9% 8,722 38.4% 82 0.4% 1,194 5.3% 189 0.8% 44 0.2% 22,697 24 4,651 55.0% 1,166 13.8% 2,414 28.5% 107 1.3% 61 0.7% 63 0.7% 8,462 25 7,954 70.6% 2,448 21.7% 513 4.6% 260 2.3% 60 0.5% 28 0.2% 11,263 26 8,149 58.3% 5,013 35.9% 310 2.2% 401 2.9% 65 0.5% 30 0.2% 13,968 27 7,122 70.0% 1,224 12.0% 1,538 15.1% 163 1.6% 70 0.7% 51 0.5% 10,168 28 3,990 54.3% 1,094 14.9% 2,001 27.2% 125 1.7% 67 0.9% 71 1.0% 7,348 29 3,505 49.5% 1,096 15.5% 2,200 31.1% 129 1.8% 91 1.3% 57 0.8% 7,078 30 6,622 44.8% 7,042 47.7% 164 1.1% 781 5.3% 134 0.9% 32 0.2% 14,775 31 10,886 70.7% 3,611 23.5% 391 2.5% 381 2.5% 90 0.6% 30 0.2% 15,389 32 6,518 50.7% 5,592 43.5% 201 1.6% 416 3.2% 96 0.7% 32 0.2% 12,855 33 6,171 50.4% 5,186 42.4% 156 1.3% 576 4.7% 120 1.0% 32 0.3% 12,241 34 5,430 47.9% 1,183 10.4% 4,342 38.3% 134 1.2% 122 1.1% 128 1.1% 11,339 35 4,886 29.6% 10,558 63.9% 81 0.5% 808 4.9% 152 0.9% 44 0.3% 16,529 36 11,011 46.0% 10,993 46.0% 126 0.5% 1,501 6.3% 234 1.0% 54 0.2% 23,919 37 5,700 50.6% 2,961 26.3% 1,769 15.7% 636 5.6% 147 1.3% 62 0.5% 11,275 38 7,393 34.5% 12,506 58.4% 87 0.4% 1,140 5.3% 239 1.1% 54 0.3% 21,419 39 8,000 46.9% 7,824 45.8% 189 1.1% 824 4.8% 193 1.1% 44 0.3% 17,074 40 6,247 44.2% 6,667 47.1% 148 1.0% 784 5.5% 234 1.7% 64 0.5% 14,144 41 6,343 23.1% 19,724 71.8% 97 0.4% 1,114 4.1% 161 0.6% 39 0.1% 27,478 42 7,861 57.3% 4,021 29.3% 1,006 7.3% 569 4.1% 141 1.0% 113 0.8% 13,711 43 6,129 44.9% 5,822 42.6% 725 5.3% 677 5.0% 212 1.6% 100 0.7% 13,665 44 6,018 49.7% 4,795 39.6% 475 3.9% 564 4.7% 192 1.6% 67 0.6% 12,111 45 7,922 34.7% 13,562 59.4% 86 0.4% 1,038 4.5% 196 0.9% 29 0.1% 22,833 46 5,317 50.1% 3,931 37.1% 638 6.0% 539 5.1% 122 1.2% 57 0.5% 10,604 47 9,960 61.0% 5,005 30.6% 208 1.3% 931 5.7% 163 1.0% 63 0.4% 16,330 48 5,327 47.7% 4,355 39.0% 627 5.6% 657 5.9% 138 1.2% 61 0.5% 11,165 49 7,007 48.5% 5,658 39.1% 639 4.4% 815 5.6% 226 1.6% 109 0.8% 14,454 50 8,967 45.6% 9,208 46.8% 271 1.4% 923 4.7% 234 1.2% 65 0.3% 19,668 Total 368,404 51.1% 235,795 32.7% 77,322 10.7% 28,643 4.0% 6,674 0.9% 4,022 0.6% 720,860 Republican primary The Republican nomination was captured by 48th ward alderman Dennis H. Block, who had originally been supportive of Bilandic's interim mayoralty before the incumbent mayor reneged on his pledge not to run for a full term. https://www.nytimes.com/1977/06/06/archives/chicago-votes-tomorrow-for-mayor-to-fill-daleys-unexpired-term.html Chicago Votes Tomorrow for Mayor to Fill Daley's Unexpired Term The New York Times June 6, 1977 Block was urged by Governor James R. Thompson to run for mayor so as not to leave the office in the hands of the Democrats.1977-06-06 Chicago Votes Tomorrow for Mayor To Fill Daley's Unexpired Term en-US The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/1977/06/06/archives/chicago-votes-tomorrow-for-mayor-to-fill-daleys-unexpired-term.html 2023-02-08 0362-4331 Block handily won the Republican primary over three other Republican candidates.Chicago's Acting Mayor Bilandic, A Daley Protege, Wins in Primary https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1977/04/20/chicagos-acting-mayor-bilandic-a-daley-protege-wins-in-primary/9bfa4f76-078c-4448-a732-5652782a1ea7/ Washington Post 6 June 2020 20 April 1977 mdy Block, at the time, was the city's sole Republican alderman (among 50). He had been elected an alderman two years prior.http://chsmedia.org/media/fa/fa/LIB/AldermansList.htm Centennial List of Mayors, City Clerks, City Attorneys, City Treasurers, and Aldermen, elected by the people of the city of Chicago, from the incorporation of the city on March 4, 1837 to March 4, 1937, arranged in alphabetical order, showing the years during which each official held office. December 24, 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180904052355/http://chsmedia.org/media/fa/fa/LIB/AldermansList.htm September 4, 2018 dead Block was the first mayoral candidate since Martin H. Kennelly to be a resident of Edgewater.Edgewater Teasers Vol. XVI No. 3 - FALL 2005 http://www.edgewaterhistory.org/ehs/articles/v16-3-5 Edgewater History 13 February 2019 mdy-all Thus, he was the first candidate from Edgewater since 1955 and the first general election nominee since 1951 to hail from Edgewater. He was the fourth overall mayoral candidate from the neighborhood, and would have been the third mayor from the neighborhood if elected. Other nominations Dennis Brasky (Socialist Workers Party) Gerald Rose (U.S. Labor Party) General election and result The general election generated little interest. At 40%, turnout was considered low. Bilandic won a majority of the vote in each of the city's 50 wards. Mayor of Chicago 1977 special electionhttp://chicagodemocracy.org/ElectionResults.jsp?election=crdd_general%2Ccrdd_1977_general_election%2Cil_chi_mayor Election Results for 1977 General Election, Mayor, Chicago, ILBoard 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) Michael A. Bilandic (incumbent) 490,688 77.4 Republican Party (United States) Dennis H. Block 135,281 21.3 Socialist Workers Party (United States) Dennis Brasky 5,547 0.9 U.S. Labor Party Gerald Rose 2,498 0.4 634,014 Results by wardWard Michael A. Bilandic(Democratic Party) Dennis H. Block(Republican Party) Dennis Brasky(Socialist Workers Party) Gerald Rose(U.S. Labor) Total Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes 1 9,157 87.4% 1,207 11.5% 78 0.7% 36 0.3% 10,478 2 7,022 81.7% 1,375 16.0% 11 1.3% 87 1.0% 8,594 3 6,373 89.3% 634 8.9% 65 0.9% 67 0.9% 7,139 4 6,688 79.6% 1,491 17.7% 135 1.6% 91 1.1% 8,405 5 4,235 58.7% 2,716 37.6% 213 3.0% 56 0.8% 7,22 6 6,397 79.9% 1,432 17.9% 106 1.3% 69 0.9% 8,004 7 5,234 75.4% 1,575 22.7% 79 1.1% 5 0.7% 6,938 8 7,122 79.2% 1,679 18.7% 98 1.1% 9 1.0% 8,989 9 5,085 81.6% 1,055 16.9% 49 0.8% 45 0.7% 6,234 10 13,55 84.2% 2,406 14.9% 97 0.6% 48 0.3% 16,101 11 23,834 94.4% 1,278 5.1% 86 0.3% 42 0.2% 25,24 12 14,794 81.9% 3,15 17.4% 91 0.5% 32 0.2% 18,067 13 20,654 82.6% 4,234 16.9% 101 0.4% 26 0.1% 25,015 14 13,448 86.6% 1,959 12.6% 89 0.6% 37 0.2% 15,533 15 10,067 84.2% 1,765 14.8% 8 0.7% 46 0.4% 11,958 16 6,991 87.6% 844 10.6% 93 1.2% 54 0.7% 7,982 17 5,24 82.9% 932 14.8% 8 1.3% 66 1.0% 6,318 18 13,787 81.2% 3,003 17.7% 129 0.8% 53 0.3% 16,972 19 15,146 78.8% 3,927 20.4% 96 0.5% 43 0.2% 19,212 20 6,343 84.5% 996 13.3% 96 1.3% 7 0.9% 7,505 21 7,855 79.9% 1,763 17.9% 11 1.1% 106 1.1% 9,834 22 8,688 85.3% 1,392 13.7% 64 0.6% 37 0.4% 10,181 23 17,575 79.9% 4,268 19.4% 123 0.6% 32 0.1% 21,998 24 5,645 89.2% 559 8.8% 66 1.0% 55 0.9% 6,325 25 9,841 90.0% 1,007 9.2% 59 0.5% 29 0.3% 10,936 26 11,057 86.2% 1,644 12.8% 84 0.7% 42 0.3% 12,827 27 10,14 93.3% 614 5.7% 67 0.6% 44 0.4% 10,865 28 5,197 88.7% 541 9.2% 55 0.9% 63 1.1% 5,856 29 4,395 86.7% 592 11.7% 57 1.1% 26 0.5% 5,07 30 9,07 71.1% 3,518 27.6% 141 1.1% 36 0.3% 12,765 31 13,086 89.4% 1,442 9.8% 8 0.5% 33 0.2% 14,641 32 9,754 81.7% 2,042 17.1% 108 0.9% 39 0.3% 11,943 33 9,45 76.5% 2,722 22.0% 132 1.1% 46 0.4% 12,35 34 6,64 83.0% 1,198 15.0% 92 1.1% 74 0.9% 8,004 35 8,754 64.9% 4,563 33.8% 138 1.0% 39 0.3% 13,494 36 16,806 75.9% 5,132 23.2% 147 0.7% 44 0.2% 22,129 37 7,975 82.8% 1,529 15.9% 76 0.8% 5 0.5% 9,63 38 12,505 69.3% 5,353 29.7% 134 0.7% 49 0.3% 18,041 39 11,065 72.1% 4,11 26.8% 137 0.9% 42 0.3% 15,354 40 8,542 64.3% 4,561 34.3% 147 1.1% 37 0.3% 13,287 41 12,696 64.5% 6,783 34.5% 148 0.8% 44 0.2% 19,671 42 9,321 68.9% 4,019 29.7% 13 1.0% 67 0.5% 13,537 43 6,827 56.8% 4,908 40.9% 228 1.9% 47 0.4% 12,01 44 6,94 63.7% 3,762 34.5% 146 1.3% 45 0.4% 10,893 45 12,832 67.9% 5,885 31.2% 136 0.7% 34 0.2% 18,887 46 6,608 66.2% 3,203 32.1% 115 1.2% 58 0.6% 9,984 47 13,002 76.8% 3,80 22.4% 102 0.6% 28 0.2% 16,932 48 6,71 54.1% 5,488 44.2% 162 1.3% 45 0.4% 12,405 49 8,404 64.3% 4,411 33.7% 21 1.6% 48 0.4% 13,073 50 12,141 63.3% 6,814 35.5% 182 0.9% 51 0.3% 19,188 Totals 490,688 77.4% 135,281 21.3% 5,547 0.9% 2,498 0.4% 634,014 References collapsed 1977 Chicago Category:1977 Illinois elections Category:1977 in Chicago Category:June 1977 in the United States Chicago Chicago mayoral 1977