1881 Chicago mayoral election

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1881 Chicago mayoral election
  1879 April 5, 1881 1883  
  Carter Harrison, Sr. - Brady-Handy (3x4a).jpg 3x4.svg
Nominee Carter Harrison III John M. Clark
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote35,66827,925
Percentage55.22%43.23%

Mayor before election

Carter Harrison III
Democratic

Elected mayor

Carter Harrison III
Democratic

The Chicago mayoral election of 1881 was held on April 5, saw the incumbent mayor, Democrat Carter Harrison III, defeat Republican Candidate John M. Clark. Harrison won a majority of the vote with a nearly twelve point margin of victory.

Contents

The election took place on April 5. [1] [2] Unlike in the previous mayoral election, the Socialist 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 the Chicago 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]

Democratic nomination of Harrison

The Democratic Party re-nominated incumbent mayor Carter Harrison III

Republican nomination of Clark

At its March 22 convention, the Republican Party nominated John M. Clark. Clark was an incumbent member of the Chicago 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]

Other candidates

Timothy O'Mara ran as an independent candidate, and George Schilling ran as the nominee of the Socialist Labor Party.

Results

1881 Chicago mayoral election [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Carter H. Harrison III (incumbent) 35,668 55.22
Republican John M. Clark 27,92543.23
Independent Timothy O'Mara7641.18
Socialist Labor George Schilling2400.37
Turnout 64,597

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References

  1. "Mayor Carter Henry Harrison III Biography".
  2. Currey, Josiah Seymour (1912). Chicago: Its History and Its Builders, a Century of Marvelous Growth. S. J. Clarke publishing Company. p.  335.
  3. Multiple sources:
  4. "Another Guiteau" . Mt. Carmel Republican. November 3, 1893. Retrieved March 27, 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  5. "The Republican City Ticket" . Chicago Tribune. March 23, 1881. Retrieved November 19, 2024 via Newspapers.com.
  6. The Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year Book for 1912. Chicago Daily News, Incorporated. 1911. p. 464. Retrieved May 12, 2020.