Elections in Illinois |
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The City of Chicago has held elections to its City Council since its incorporation in 1837. Elections were held annually from 1837 through 1921, biennially from 1923 through 1933, and quadrennially starting in 1935. From 1851 through 1922 the Council was staggered and half of it was chosen at each election, but before 1851 and since 1923 the entire Council has been elected at each election.
Members of the Council are known as "aldermen"—a term that is gender-neutral, although "alderwoman" and "alderperson" are occasionally encountered—and are elected from districts known as "wards". Since 1923 there have been fifty wards, each entitled to one alderman. Prior to that time the number of wards varied but they were almost always entitled to two aldermen each. The Council was known as the "Common Council" prior to 1875.
When Chicago was incorporated as a town in 1833, it was governed by a board of trustees that were elected at large and who elected a President from among themselves. Chicago's incorporation as a city in 1837 abandoned such a model in favor of a Common Council elected from wards and a separate mayor elected at large. However, the mayor would serve as the presiding officer of the Common Council. Each ward was nominally entitled to two aldermen each; however, prior to 1839 the 3rd and 5th wards were only entitled to one alderman each. Aldermanic terms were one year each, and both aldermen were elected simultaneously in a ward. After 1850 aldermanic terms were extended to two years but the council was then staggered so that elections continued to be held annually and only one alderman was elected from a ward each election. [1]
The City Charter was abolished in favor of the Cities and Villages Act of 1872, which renamed the council the "City Council".
In 1920 elections were made officially nonpartisan. In 1923 the number of aldermen per ward was decreased to one and the number of wards was increased to fifty, while the entire council was once again elected at each election. Starting in 1935 the term for aldermen was extended to four years, and aldermanic elections since that time have coincided with the mayoral election.
In 1837 there were six wards, before that number was increased to nine in 1847, ten in 1853, sixteen in 1863, twenty in 1869, down to eighteen in 1876, to twenty-four in 1887 and thirty-four in 1890, to thirty-five in 1900, before being increased to fifty in 1923. [1]
There are no term limits for aldermen.
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council member elected by voters.
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in Scotland from 1833 to 1975 with the reform of royal burghs and creation of police burghs.
The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 wards to serve four-year terms. The council is called into session regularly, usually monthly, to consider ordinances, orders, and resolutions whose subject matter includes code changes, utilities, taxes, and many other issues. The Chicago City Council Chambers are located in Chicago City Hall, as are the downtown offices of the individual alderpersons and staff.
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Liverpool Town Council existed from 1835 to 1880.
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Dorsey Ryan Crowe was an American politician who served as alderman of Chicago's 21st ward from 1919 to 1923 and upon its redistricting into the 42nd ward from 1923 to his death. A Democrat serving most of the Near North Side, he represented such affluent constituencies as the Gold Coast and Streeterville as well as such poor areas as Cabrini–Green and Goose Island. At the time of his death he was the Dean of the Chicago City Council, as well as the last alderman from the era of partisan aldermanic elections and when wards elected two aldermen each. An alderman for 43 years, and the last to have served under a Republican mayor, he is as of 2018 the third-longest serving alderman in Chicago history, behind Ed Burke of the 14th ward and John Coughlin of the 1st.
Louis Bernard Anderson was an American politician who served as alderman of Chicago's 2nd ward from 1917 to 1933. A Republican, he served most of the Douglas community area, including much of the African-American neighborhood of Bronzeville. He was a prominent ally of mayor William Hale Thompson, and served as his floor leader throughout the 1920s.
the 1843 Chicago mayoral election , Democratic nominee Augustus Garrett defeated Whig nominee Thomas Church and Liberty nominee Henry Smith by a landslide 26.5% margin.
The 1842 Chicago Mayoral election Whig candidate and Former Mayor Benjamin Wright Raymond defeated Democratic candidate Augustus Garrett and Free Soil candidate Henry Smith by a six point margin.
Elections to the Chicago City Council were held on February 27, 1923. Candidates ran as nonpartisans, and in elections where no candidate received the majority of votes a runoff election was held between the top two finishers on April 3, the same day as the election for Mayor.