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| Turnout | 40%[1] 7.3pp | ||||||||||||||||
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TheChicago mayoral election of 1977 was a special election held on June 7, 1977, to complete the remainder of the unexpired mayoral term ofRichard J. Daley who died of a heart attack in December 1976. The election saw Interim MayorMichael A. Bilandic win the election. Bliandic defeated Republican city council member Dennis H. Block by a landslide 56% margin.[2][3]
The election was preceded by Februaryprimary elections to determine theDemocratic Party andRepublican Party nominations. Bilandic won a strong victory over several opponents in the Democratic primary, including CongressmanRoman Pucinski, State SenatorHarold Washington, and former cook county state's attorneyEdward Hanrahan. Block easily defeated three opponents in the Republican primary.
After the death in office of Richard J. Daley on December 20, 1976, Bilandic had been selected by theChicago 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.[4] However, the following week, Bilandic reneged on this pledge, and announced that he would be open to adraft.[4] 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 beenWilliam Hale Thompson in1927. Dating back toEdward 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's11th Ward.[5]
47.07% of registered voters participated in the primary elections.[6]
The following individual was speculated to run, but did not:
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.[7] Two weeks later, Bilandic announced that he would be open to running in the election ifdrafted 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.[8]
Bilandic won the Democratic Party's primary. Bilandic had a well-staged "draft" effort.[4] He won theCook County Democratic Party central committee's endorsement.[4] Pucinski had entered the race at the point when Bilandic had yet to reverse course on his pledge to not seek election.[4] The party organization had pressured him to drop out of the race for Bilandic's benefit, which he refused to do.[4] Pucinski sought to receive strong support from the city's sizable Polish-American electorage.[4] He also sought to challenge Bilandic to a series of debates, which Bilandic declined.[4] Pucinski was considered Bilandic's foremost opponent in the primary.[5]
Puncinski argued that a Bilandic administration would present more, "politics-as-usual".[5] Pucinski focused much of his campaign on addressing the issue ofunemployment.[5] 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.[5] State SenatorHarold Washington's campaign was underfunded and lacked strong organization.[4] He also suffered due to the impact of personal legal issues.[4] He focused his campaign on the black wards of the city'sSouth Side.[4] Washington was anAfrican American, and was counting on receiving strong African American support.[5] Also running was disgraced former Cook County State's Attorney Edward Hanrahan.[4] Minor candidates in the primary were lawyers Anthony R. Martin-Trigona and Ellis E. Reid, the latter of whom was African American.[5]
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.[4] He sought to also present himself as a friend to business and a successful labor mediator.[5] During the campaign, he made appearances at ribbon-cutting ceremonies, charity dinners, and other events.[5]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, andracial integration.[5]
Bilandic won a plurality of the vote in 38 of the city's 50 wards.[4][9] Pucinski won a plurality of the vote in 7 wards (all on the North and Northwest Sides).[4][9] Washington won a plurality of the vote in 5 wards.[9] Bilandic had won Southwest Side Polish wards that Pucinski had been counting on winning.[5] After the election results came in, Washington alleged that there had been, "massivevote fraud".[5]
| Chicago Democratic Party Mayoral Primary, 1977[2][9] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | ||
| Michael A. Bilandic (incumbent) | 368,400 | 51.1% | ||
| Roman Pucinski | 235,790 | 32.7% | ||
| Harold Washington | 77,322 | 10.7% | ||
| Edward Hanrahan | 28,643 | 4.0% | ||
| Anthony Robert Martin-Trigona | 6,674 | 0.9% | ||
| Ellis Reid | 4,022 | 0.6% | ||
| Total | 720,851 | 100% | ||
| Results by ward[9] | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ward | Michael Bilandic | Roman Pucinski | Harold Washington | Edward Hanrahan | Anthony Robert Martin-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 | |
The Republican nomination was captured by48th ward aldermanDennis 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.[10][11] Block was urged by GovernorJames R. Thompson to run for mayor so as not to leave the office in the hands of the Democrats.[12]
Block handily won the Republican primary over three other Republican candidates.[5] Block, at the time, was the city's sole Republican alderman (among 50).[4] He had been elected an alderman two years prior.[13] Block was the first mayoral candidate sinceMartin H. Kennelly to be a resident ofEdgewater.[11] Thus, he was the first candidate from Edgewater since1955 and the first general election nominee since1951 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.[11]
The general election generated little interest.[4] At 40%, turnout was considered low.[1][4] Bilandic won a majority of the vote in each of the city's 50 wards.[14]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Michael A. Bilandic (incumbent) | 490,688 | 77.4 | |
| Republican | Dennis H. Block | 135,281 | 21.3 | |
| Socialist Workers | Dennis Brasky | 5,547 | 0.9 | |
| U.S. Labor | Gerald Rose | 2,498 | 0.4 | |
| Turnout | 634,014 | |||
| Results by ward[14] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ward | 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 |
| | |
| Elections |
| |
1 tenure as acting officeholder. 2 Election declared null and void. | ||
