1897 Chicago mayoral election

1897 Chicago mayoral election

←  1895 April 6, 1897 1899  →

Nominee Carter Harrison Jr. John Maynard Harlan Party Democratic Independent Republican Popular vote 148,850 69,730 Percentage 50.23% 23.53%   Nominee Nathaniel C. Sears Washington Hesing Party Republican Independent Democrat Popular vote 59,513 15,427 Percentage 20.08% 5.21%

Mayor before election George Bell Swift Republican Elected mayor Carter Harrison Jr. Democratic

In the Chicago mayoral election of 1897, Democratic nominee Carter Harrison Jr. was elected, winning a majority of the vote and defeating independent Republican John Maynard Harlan (an alderman), Republican nominee Nathaniel C. Sears, independent Democrat Washington Hesing (the former Chicago 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 mayor George Bell Swift declined to seek reelection. ^[1]

Harrison won the Democratic Party's nomination by acclamation at its city nominating convention, being unopposed after opponents for the nomination withdrew their candidacies, including Superior Court of Cook County Judge John Barton Payne and President of the Chicago Board of Education A. S. Trude. Sears secured the Republican Party nomination as a compromise candidate.

The election was held on April 6. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Nominations

The election had held the record for being the Chicago mayoral election to have the most candidates running on the ballot for 122 years, until the 2019 Chicago mayoral election surpassed it.

Democratic

The Democratic nomination went the Carter Harrison Jr., son of the late former mayor Carter Harrison Sr., who was assassinated in 1893 while serving his fifth term as mayor. ^[1]

Considered to be young and charismatic, and the namesake 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 a political machine, but which had gone defunct following his fathers' assassination, was revived. ^[1]

During his pursuit of the nomination, Harrison aligned himself with William 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 of Superior Court of Cook County judge John 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 was A. S. Trude. ^[1] Trude, whose long political service had been admired by John 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 Party nominating convention, Harrison faced no open opposition. ^[1] Harrison's former challenger Trude introduced Harrison's name for nomination by acclamation. ^[1]

Republican

The Republican Party nominated Nathaniel C. Sears, ^[1] a judge on the Superior Court of Cook County. ^[5] Sears was the first resident of the Edgewater neighborhood to run for mayor. ^[6] 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 included William Lorimer). ^[1]

Prohibition

The Prohibition Party nominated H. L. Parmelee.

Socialist Labor

The Socialist Labor Party nominated John Glambeck. Glambeck was a clerk and the editor of the Arbejderen paper, a mouthpiece of the party. ^{[7] [8] [9]} Glambeck had been involved in the party, including having previously served as a delegate to the party's 1893 national convention. ^[10]

Independent candidates

Incumbent alderman John Maynard Harlan ran for mayor as an independent Republican. Harlan was the son of then-sitting Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States John Marshall Harlan.

Washington Hesing resigned his position as Chicago's postmaster to run for mayor as an independent Democrat. ^[11]

Less notable candidates also running as independents were Frank Howard Collier and J. Irving Pearce Jr.

General election

The election was contentious, with four major candidates and numerous minor candidates. ^[1]

The Chicago 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 Democratic slate included William Loeffler as its City 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 by Charles Yerkes and introduced to the Illinois Senate by John Humphrey), John Maynard Harlan advocated for regulation of the city's streetcar systems. ^[1] He supported municipal ownership of streetcars. ^[12] 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 of Detroit mayor Hazen Pingree. ^[1] Hesing advocated for civil service reform, an end to machine 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 prominent gold 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. ^[13]

Endorsements

John Maynard Harlan (Independent Republican)

Officeholders

• William Kent, Chicago alderman from the 32nd ward
• Joseph Powell, Illinois state representative ^[14]
• Charles Rector, Chicago alderman from the 28th ward ^[14]

Individuals

• Jane Addams, ^[12] activist and proprietor of Hull House
• Clarence Darrow, ^[12] lawyer and activist
• Louis F. Post, ^[12] Georgism activist
• Donald Richberg, ^[12] attorney

Carter Harrison Jr. (Democratic)

Officeholders

• John Peter Altgeld, Governor of Illinois ^[15]
• Robert Emmett "Bobby" Burke ^[1]

Individuals

• Adolf Kraus ^[1]

Results

1897 Chicago mayoral election ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Carter Harrison Jr.	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	Frank Howard Collier	110	0.04
Turnout			296,331

Harrison received 82.91% of the Polish-American vote. ^[16]

References

1. Morton, Richard Allen (June 29, 2016). "Roger C. Sullivan and the Making of the Chicago Democratic Machine, 1881-1908". McFarland. pp. 44, 103–106. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
2. The Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year Book for 1912. Chicago Daily News, Incorporated. 1911. p. 464. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
3. Mayor Carter Henry Harrison IV Biography
4. Currey, Josiah Seymour (1912). Chicago: Its History and Its Builders, a Century of Marvelous Growth. S. J. Clarke publishing Company. p.  335.
5. "Judiciary of Cook County". The Chicago Eagle. May 4, 1895. p. 3.
6. "Edgewater Teasers Vol. XVI No. 3 - FALL 2005". Edgewater History. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
7. "[Editor of Arbejderen Defeated] (Summary)". flps.newberry.org. Newberry Foreign Language Press Survey. March 27, 1897. Archived from the original on August 21, 2020. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
8. "[Arbejderen in Difficulties]". flps.newberry.org. Newberry Foreign Language Press Survey. December 19, 1896. Archived from the original on August 21, 2020. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
9. Shore, Elliott; Fones-Wolf, Ken; Danky, James Philip; Danky, James P. (1992). The German-American Radical Press: The Shaping of a Left Political Culture, 1850-1940. University of Illinois Press. p. 98. ISBN   978-0-252-01830-5 . Retrieved May 17, 2020.
10. "The Chicago Convention" (PDF). The People. III (15). New York City. July 9, 1893. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
11. “Washington Hesing Stricken Suddenly With Heart Disease.” Los Angeles Herald, 19 Dec. 1897.
12. Green, Paul M.; Holli, Melvin G. (2013). The Mayors: The Chicago Political Tradition, fourth edition. SIU Press. p. 37. ISBN   978-0-8093-3199-4 . Retrieved May 17, 2020.
13. Labor and Urban Politics: Class Conflict and the Origins of Modern Liberalism in Chicago, 1864-97 Front Cover Richard Schneirov University of Illinois Press, 1998 (page 347)
14. "HARLAN FOR MAYOR" . Newspapers.com. The Inter Ocean (Chicago). January 26, 1897. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
15. Tompkins, C. David (1963). "John Peter Altgeld as a Candidate for Mayor of Chicago in 1899". Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. 56 (4): 654–676. JSTOR   40189944.
16. Kantowicz, Edward (1972). "The Emergence of the Polish-Democratic Vote in Chicago". Polish American Studies. 29 (1/2): 67–80. JSTOR   20147849.