| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
TheChicago mayoral election of 1881 was held on April 5, saw the incumbent mayor, DemocratCarter Harrison III, defeat Republican CandidateJohn M. Clark. Harrison won a majority of the vote with a nearly twelve point margin of victory.
The election took place on April 5.[1][2] Unlike in the previous mayoral election, theSocialist Labor Party's nominee did not have much of an impact.
Harrison's Republican opponent, John M. Clark was a Chicago alderman that had been elected to theChicago City Council two years earlier.[3]
Harrison's sizable victory came despite the fact that Republicans had carried the city in the 1880 elections by a similar vote margin.[4]
TheDemocratic Party re-nominated incumbent mayorCarter Harrison III
At its March 22 convention, theRepublican Party nominatedJohn M. Clark. Clark was an incumbent member of theChicago Common Council (city council). The convention's nomination saw four names placed into consideration. None of the four men had actively sought the nomination for themself. Clark was nominated largely because convention delegates believed he was the most likely of the four men to accept their nomination. Of the considered candidates, he had strong support among the city party rank-and-file as well as its wealthy business elite. Clark was understood to be an ally of business interests.[5]
Timothy O'Mara ran as anindependent candidate, and George Schilling ran as the nominee of theSocialist Labor Party.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Carter H. Harrison III (incumbent) | 35,668 | 55.22 | |
| Republican | John M. Clark | 27,925 | 43.23 | |
| Independent | Timothy O'Mara | 764 | 1.18 | |
| Socialist Labor | George Schilling | 240 | 0.37 | |
| Turnout | 64,597 | |||
|  | |
| Elections |
| |
1 tenure as acting officeholder. 2 Election declared null and void. | ||
.jpg)
