Word: daley
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...incident typical of his campaign. Running for office in a city known for its deep racial divisions and financially outflanked by more than 10 to 1, Washington was the decided underdog. His opponents in the three-way race were Incumbent Jane Byrne, a protegee of legendary Mayor Richard J. Daley, who ruled Chicago for 21 years until his death in 1976, and her patron's eldest son, State's Attorney Richard M. Daley. After Washington's upset win last week, however, it appeared the twice-elected Congressman and his staff might not only enter city hall...
...recently as late January, Gallup poll figures showed Washington a staggering 22 points behind the front-running mayor. Small wonder. Byrne had the imprimatur of incumbency and Daley had hand-me-down celebrity. But Harold Washington was hardly a figure of renown, despite 16 years in the state legislature, one full term as a U.S. Representative from Illinois' First District, and re-election to Congress last fall. His $1.1 million war chest left him a comparative pauper in a municipal election touted as the most expensive in American history. (Byrne's campaign cache was about $10 million; Daley...
...strategic assumption that by election day he could evenly split his opponents' white support, take 75% or better of the black vote and between 8% and 14% of the white vote. He did better than his blueprint. An Associated Press-WMAQ-TV exit poll showed that Byrne and Daley divided the white support 47% to 46%, and that Washington captured 84% of the black vote, though only 6% of the white. Of the 1.2 million votes cast, Washington received 36.3%, Byrne 33.5%, and Daley 29.8%. "When you divide the numbers three ways," said a chastened Byrne the morning after...
This may force Washington, despite earlier promises, to work with the remnants of Richard J. Daley's machine. Elections do not run on compromises, but city governments do. In order to units all of Chicago's ethnic and racial communities, Washington might be tempted to deal with "the boys in city hall." The machine has been wounded by his victory, but Washington would be foolish to believe that loyalties to Byrne or the Daley family will just die away. Indeed, should Washington take this approach, the transition from Byrne and the traditional Irish power base to Washington's newly strong...
...might be best to consider some recent Chicago history. In 1979, an upstart city commissioner for consumer sales, Jane Byrne, challenged Daley's successor, Mayor Michael A. Bilandic. Thanks to a winter blizzard that paralyzed city services and embarrassed the Bilandic administration, Byrne upset Bilandic in the Democratic primary, defeated the Republican candidate, and became Chicago's first woman mayor. They said the machine was dead, and Jane Byrne had killed...