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In theChicago mayoral election of 1897, Democratic nomineeCarter Harrison IV was elected, winning a majority of the vote and defeating independent RepublicanJohn Maynard Harlan (an alderman), Republican nomineeNathaniel C. Sears, independent DemocratWashington Hesing (the formerChicago postmaster), as well as several minor candidates. Harrison carried a 26.7 point lead over second-place finisher Harlan, a margin greater than Harlan's vote share itself.
Incumbent Republican mayorGeorge Bell Swift declined to seek reelection.[1]
Harrison won theDemocratic Party's nomination byacclamation at its citynominating convention, being unopposed after opponents for the nomination withdrew their candidacies, includingSuperior Court of Cook County JudgeJohn Barton Payne andPresident of theChicago Board of EducationA. S. Trude. Sears secured the Republican Party nomination as a compromise candidate.
The election was held on April 6.[2][3][4]
In November 1896, the Republican presidential ticket (headed byWilliam McKinley) performed strongly in the city, receiving approximately 200,000 votes.[5]
The election had held the record for being the Chicago mayoral election to havethe most candidates running on the ballot for 122 years, until the2019 Chicago mayoral election surpassed it.
The Democratic nomination went theCarter Harrison IV, son of the late former mayorCarter Harrison III (whohad been assassinated in 1893 while serving his fifth term as mayor).[1]
Considered to be young and charismatic, and thenamesake of his popular father, in 1896 a number of political actors began to court Harrison as a potential mayoral candidate for 1897.[1] In 1896 the Harrison Club, which had been founded by his father at the start of the decade in the hopes of forming the base of apolitical machine, but which had gone defunct following his fathers' assassination, was revived.[1]
During his pursuit of the nomination, Harrison aligned himself withWilliam Jennings Bryan,1896 Democratic presidential nominee.[1]
Harrison's potential candidacy began to accrue the backing of political players of the Chicago Democratic Party scene. Chief among these was Robert Emmett "Bobby" Burke, who abandoned his initial support for the candidacy ofSuperior Court of Cook County judgeJohn Barton Payne in order to back Harrison.[1]
John Barton Payne was broadly-liked, but did not arouse strong enthusiasm, and was criticized by some Democrats for his tepid support of William Jennings Bryan's presidential candidacy.[1] Payne ultimately abandoned his plans to run after being discouraged by the greatly enthusiastic response which Harrison received for his opening speech at the January 8, 1897 Jackson Day Celebration.[1]
Another challenger to Harrison wasA. S. Trude.[1] Trude, whose long political service had been admired byJohn Peter Altgeld, unsuccessfully sought Atgeld's endorsement.[1] He ultimately withdrew as well.[1]
Atgeld backed Harrison after Trude's withdrawal.[1]
At the city's Democratic Partynominating convention, Harrison faced no open opposition.[1] Harrison's former challenger Trude introduced Harrison's name for nomination byacclamation.[1]
The Republican Party nominatedNathaniel C. Sears,[1] a judge on theSuperior Court of Cook County.[6] Sears was the first resident of theEdgewater neighborhood to run for mayor.[7] Sears was selected as a compromise candidate in an attempt to avoid a potentially divisive fight between the leading candidates that had sought the nomination (which includedWilliam Lorimer).[1]
The Prohibition Party nominated H. L. Parmelee.
The Socialist Labor Party nominated John Glambeck.[note 1] Glambeck was a clerk and the editor of the Arbejderen paper, a mouthpiece of the party.[8][9][10] Glambeck had been involved in the party, including having previously served as a delegate to the party's 1893 national convention.[11]
Incumbent aldermanJohn Maynard Harlan ran for mayor as anindependent Republican. Harlan was the son of then-sittingAssociate Justice of theSupreme Court of the United StatesJohn Marshall Harlan.
Washington Hesing resigned his position asChicago's postmaster to run for mayor as anindependent Democrat.[12]
Less notable candidates also running as independents were Frank Howard Collier and J. Irving Pearce Jr, the latter of whom was an independent Democrat.[13]
The election was contentious, with four major candidates and numerous minor candidates.[1]
TheChicago Traction Wars were a prominent concern in the election.[1]
Throughout the election, Harrison was the apparent frontrunner.[1] As a result, he received the most attacks from opponents.[1] Opponents sought to paint him as a machine politician (which was true), as in the pocket of streetcar company (which was untrue), as an opponent of civil service reform (which was partially true), and as a "puppet" of Robert Burke and other career politicians (which a fair criticism at the time).[1] Reformists voiced alarm that the Democraticslate includedWilliam Loeffler as itsCity Clerk nominee.[1]
Harrison's campaign was well organized, and benefited from the disunity of Republicans.[1]
Appealing to citizen's concerns regarding the developments of the Chicago Traction Wars (particularly the Humphrey bills, bills backed byCharles Yerkes and introduced to theIllinois Senate byJohn Humphrey), John Maynard Harlan advocated for regulation of the city's streetcar systems.[1] He supportedmunicipal ownership of streetcars.[14] Harlan received what effectively amounted to an unofficial endorsement from the Muninicipal Voters' League.[1]
Hesing had begun preparing for his campaign in the autumn of 1896. He ran on a markedly liberal platform which proposed a mayoral administration modeled after that ofDetroit mayorHazen Pingree.[1] Hesing advocated for civil service reform, an end tomachine politics, traction law revision, and the use of vacant lots by the poor for the purposes of growing beans and vegetables.[1] Despite his reformist platform, Hesing did not receive sizable backing from the city's reformers, who instead flocked to the candidacy of Harlan.[1] However, very late in the campaign, Hesing did receive a lukewarm statement of support signed by a number of prominentgold standard-supporting Democrats.[1]
By the end of the race, it had become apparent that Harrison and Harlan were the frontrunners to win.[1]
The second-place finish by Municipal Voters League reformer John Maynard Halran evidenced the strength of the independent pro-reform vote in Chicago.[15]
Officeholders
Individuals
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Carter Harrison IV | 148,850 | 50.23 | |
| Independent Republican | John Maynard Harlan | 69,730 | 23.53 | |
| Republican | Nathaniel C. Sears | 59,513 | 20.08 | |
| Independent Democrat | Washington Hesing | 15,427 | 5.21 | |
| Socialist Labor | John Glambeck | 1,230 | 0.42 | |
| Prohibition | H. L. Parmelee | 910 | 0.31 | |
| Independent | J. Irving Pearce, Jr. | 561 | 0.19 | |
| Independent Democrat | Frank Howard Collier | 110 | 0.04 | |
| Turnout | 296,331 | |||
Harrison received 82.91% of thePolish-American vote.[18]
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1 tenure as acting officeholder. 2 Election declared null and void. | ||
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