Word: vrdolyak
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Since his election in 1983 as Chicago's first black mayor, Democrat Harold Washington has been entangled in an epic feud with the party's long-entrenched regulars, led by Alderman Edward Vrdolyak. The result has been legislative paralysis, with the 21 city council votes that Washington controls more than canceled out by the 29 loyal to Vrdolyak. Last week, however, a federal judge ordered special aldermanic elections on March 18 that will probably narrow the margin and could give the mayor the decisive votes. The balloting could ultimately deliver the coup de grace to Chicago's once formidable Democratic...
...ruling resulted from a lawsuit filed in 1982 by black and Hispanic groups claiming that redistricting a year earlier was illegally rigged to minimize minority voting power. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Norgle Sr. ordered the boundaries for seven wards redrawn. Observers expect Vrdolyak's forces to retain at least two districts and Washington to pick up a minimum of three. That would leave the balance of power resting on the remaining two races, both in heavily Hispanic wards. Considering the stakes, it is a good bet that Chicago's two Democratic power brokers will spend the winter brushing...