Raymond Wardingley | |
---|---|
Personal details | |
Born | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | February 13, 1935
Political party | Republican |
Raymond "Ray" G. Wardingley is an American perennial candidate who has many times, unsuccessfully, sought office in Chicago, Illinois. He is most famous for having been the Republican nominee in the 1995 Chicago mayoral election, and for having previously performed as a clown under the name "Spanky the Clown".
The embarrassment that many in the Republican party felt about Wardingley having been their party's 1995 standard-bearer in the Chicago mayoral election has been cited as a reason why a Republican-led Illinois General Assembly and Republican governor passed into law legislation that made all subsequent Chicago mayoral elections nonpartisan.
Wardingley was born at Cook County Hospital on February 13, 1935, to Albert and Thelma Wardingley. He was the sixth child born of ten children. [1] [2] [3] [4] His family lived on the Southeast Side of Chicago and were poor. [2] After his parents separated, he and a number of his siblings were sent to catholic orphanages. [2] He attended Mendel and Chicago Vocational High Schools, but did not graduate high school. [2] He later obtained a high school diploma. [4] He later attended Goodman Theatre School. [3]
Per his official biography, Wardingley enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1955 at age 20, but was given a medical discharge two years later, in 1957, after an eardrum was injured in an accident. [3] [4] [5]
Wardingley worked numerous jobs, including taxi and limousine driver, a taxi dispatcher, steel mill worker, stagehand at movie studios in California, a motion picture extra, as well as an actor in commercials. [1] [2] Wardingley also performed as a part-time clown under the name "Spanky the Clown", a fact which attracted attention during his later turn as the Republican Party's Chicago mayoral nominee. [6] [7] He sometimes performed as Spanky the Clown at Chicago Sting games. [5] He also would sometimes fill-in at their games as their mascot Stanley Sting. [2] He created Spanky the Clown to entertain children with cancer at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. [5] He also performed as Spanky the Clown to raise money for St. Jude and other causes. [5] During his 1979 Republican mayoral primary campaign, he performed as Spanky the Clown to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. [1] [5] By the time of his 1995 mayoral campaign, he had retired from clowning. [5]
Wardingley managed his local neighborhood watch from 1989 to 1995. [3]
Wardingley has been a perennial candidate. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] He has never been elected to any of the numerous offices he has sought.
Wardingley co-founded the Coalition for Restoring Social Standards (C.R.O.S.S.). [13]
Since 2005, he has been a member of the Illinois Right Coalition. [3]
In 2004, Warringley launched an effort to try and persuade Cardinal Francis George to excommunicate Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley, after Daley publicly supported same-sex marriage. [14]
Politically, he has identified himself as a Reagan Republican in the past. [1]
Wardingley unsuccessfully ran in the Republican primary elections for the 1979, 1983, 1987. In 1983, he failed to get on the ballot due to issues with his ballot petition. [15] He also once ran as a write-in in a general election, garnering only a single vote. [16]
In 1995 Wardingley narrowly won the Republican primary, thereby becoming the party's nominee for mayor of Chicago. The Republican field in the primary was regarded as weak. [7] This was Wardingley's fourth mayoral campaign. [6] However, his victory in the primary was nonetheless considered surprising. [17] His platform included abolishing the Chicago Board of Education, eliminating the employment-based head tax, eliminating desegregation busing, and eliminating bilingual education. [5] He supported school prayer, making inspections of nursing homes stricter, firing many government officials and replacing them with "senior citizens, disabled veterans, Americans, at $10,000 a year." Wardingley also supported increasing the number of veterans' parades. [5] He spoke about wanting to sentence "drug pushers" to life imprisonment and possibly castration or death by hanging. [5] Wardingley characterized himself as someone capable of relating to working class voters, and hoped that by running he would help keep a two-party system alive in a city so dominated by Democrats. [2] Wardingley's candidacy was not taken seriously by many. [2] Many Republicans stayed silent on the mayoral race, rather than endorsing, and a few even went as far as endorsing Democratic incumbent Richard M. Daley over Wardingley. [2] His campaign manager was Ted Lauterbach. [2] The fact he had performed as a clown garnered great attention. [5] He ultimately only garnered 2.77% of the vote in the general election.
Wardingley's mayoral nomination was seen as an embarrassment for the local Republican Party. [16] This has been viewed as the impetus for state Republicans leading the charge to reform Chicago's mayoral election system from a partisan election to a nonpartisan election. This was passed by the then-Republican controlled Illinois Senate and Illinois House of Representatives and signed by Republican governor Jim Edgar later in 1995. [12] [18] [19] [20] [21]
In 1999, Wardingley ran against incumbent Chicago Alderman Ginger Rugai for her 19th ward seat on the Chicago City Council. [22]
Warringley ran in 2000 for Illinois's 1st congressional district, winning the Republican nomination unopposed. [11] He lost to incumbent Democrat Bobby Rush, who garnered 87.8% of the vote to Wardingley's 12.2%. He again ran as the Republican nominee against Rush in Illinois's 1st congressional district in 2002 and 2004. During his 2002 campaign he signed the Americans for Tax Reform's Taxpayer Protection Pledge. [23]
In 2006 he ran as the Republican nominee against incumbent Democrat Dan Lipinski in Illinois's 3rd congressional district. In 2006, Republican leadership expressed embarrassment that the only two candidates running in the Republican primary were Wardingley and white supremacist perennial candidate Arthur J. Jones. [1] On the campaign trail that year, Wardingley refused to shake hands with Jones, saying, "I won't shake the hand that represents the same thing Hitler represented". [1]
Wardingley again ran for Illinois's 1st congressional district as the Republican nominee in 2010. He tried to run again for the 1st congressional district in 2012, [24] but was removed from the ballot.[ citation needed ]
As a candidate, Wardingley has expressed support for a "FairTax". [25]
In 2008, he ran against Emil Jones III for the 14th district Illinois Senate seat. The district was heavily Democratic. [8] Wardingly lost by a large margin.
Originally, Emil Jones Jr. was his Democratic opponent, but Jones opted to retire and withdraw from the race, and his son was selected to replace him on the ballot. [8]
Wardingley is married to his wife Karen. [3]
Wardingley is a Roman Catholic. [1] [3] As of 2006 [update] , he was living in the Morgan Park neighborhood of Chicago. [1]
Wardingley is a second degree freemason. [3] In 2001, Wardingley became a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars. [3] Wardingley has also been a member of the American Legion since 2001. [3]
1979 Chicago Republican Party mayoral primary [26] | |||
---|---|---|---|
Candidate | Votes | % | |
Wallace D. Johnson | 18,268 | 86.39 | |
Raymond G. Wardingley | 2,877 | 13.61 | |
Total | 21,144 | 100.00 |
data needed
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Raymond Wardingley | 2,438 | 28.2 | |
Republican | Larry P. Horist | 2,354 | 27.2 | |
Republican | Saturnino Noriega | 1,995 | 23.1 | |
Republican | William J. Grutzmacher | 1,579 | 18.2 | |
Republican | Kimball Ladien | 288 | 3.3 | |
Total votes | 8,654 | 100.00 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Richard M. Daley (incumbent) | 359,466 | 60.09 | |
Independent | Roland W. Burris | 217,024 | 36.28 | |
Republican | Raymond Wardingley | 16,568 | 2.77 | |
Harold Washington | Lawrence C. Redmond | 5,160 | 0.86 | |
Total votes | 598,218 | 100.00 |
Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|
Virginia Rugai (incumbent) | 17,090 | 84.13 | |
Ray Wardingly | 3,223 | 15.87 | |
Total votes | 20,313 | 100 |
*Uncertified results published in the Chicago Tribune on February 24, 1999
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Raymond G. Wardingly | 2,721 | 100.00 | |
Total votes | 2,721 | 100.00 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Bobby Rush (incumbent) | 172,271 | 87.81 | |
Republican | Raymond G. Wardingly | 23,915 | 12.19 | |
Total votes | 196,186 | 100.00 | ||
Democratic hold | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Raymond G. Wardingly | 9,430 | 100.00 | |
Total votes | 9,430 | 100.00 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Bobby Rush (incumbent) | 149,068 | 81.17 | |
Republican | Raymond G. Wardingly | 29,776 | 16.21 | |
Libertarian | Dorothy G. Tsatsos | 4,812 | 2,62 | |
Total votes | 183,656 | 100.00 | ||
Democratic hold | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Raymond G. Wardingly | 7,190 | 100.00 | |
Total votes | 7,190 | 100.00 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Bobby Rush (incumbent) | 212,109 | 84.86 | |
Republican | Raymond G. Wardingly | 37,840 | 15.14 | |
Total votes | 249,949 | 100.00 | ||
Democratic hold | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Raymond G. Wardingly | 12,603 | 70.62 | |
Republican | Arthur J. Jones | 5,242 | 29.37 | |
Write-in | Richard Benedict Mayers | 2 | 0.00 | |
Total votes | 17,847 | 100.00 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Dan Lipinski (incumbent) | 127,768 | 77.10 | |
Republican | Raymond G. Wardingley | 37,954 | 22.90 | |
Total votes | 165,722 | 100.00 | ||
Democratic hold | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Emil Jones III | 76,090 | 80.08 | |
Republican | Ray Wardingley | 18,929 | 19.92 | |
Total votes | 95,019 | 100.00 | ||
Democratic hold | ||||
James D. Oberweis is an American businessman, investment manager, and politician from the state of Illinois. The owner of Oberweis Dairy in North Aurora near Chicago, he served as a member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 25th district from 2013 to 2021.
The 1986 Illinois gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986. Republican candidate James R. Thompson won a fourth term in office, defeating the Illinois Solidarity Party nominee, former United States Senator Adlai Stevenson III, by around 400,000 votes.
The Chicago mayoral election of 1995 resulted in the re-election of Democratic Party nominee incumbent Richard M. Daley over independent candidate Roland Burris, with 359,466 votes to Burris's 217,024. Daley won 60.1% of the total vote, winning by a landslide 24-point margin. The Republican candidate, Raymond Wardingley, fared poorly with only 2.8% of the vote. A fourth-place candidate, Harold Washington Party nominee Lawrence Redmond, won 0.9% of the votes.
The Chicago mayoral election of 1989 saw Democratic nominee Richard M. Daley win election to the remainder of an unexpired mayoral term with a 14% margin of victory. This marked a return for the Daley family to the office of mayor. Daley was elected over Alderman Timothy Evans, the nominee of the newly formed Harold Washington Party, and the Republican nominee Ed Vrdolyak.
The Chicago mayoral election of 1987 was first the primary election on February 24, 1987 followed by the general election on April 7, 1987. The election saw the re-election of Chicago, Illinois' first African-American mayor, Harold Washington. Ed Vrdolyak, the leader of the Vrdolyak 29, unsuccessfully opposed him, running on the Illinois Solidarity Party ticket. Former mayor Jane Byrne, who served from 1979 until 1983 unsuccessfully challenged Washington in the Democratic primary.
The 1979 Chicago mayoral election was first the primary on February 27, 1979, which was followed by the general on April 3, 1979. The election saw the election of Chicago, Illinois' first female mayor, and the first female mayor of any major American city, Jane M. Byrne. Byrne defeated Republican Wallace Johnson by a landslide 66 percent margin of victory, winning more than 82 percent of the vote. Byrne's 82% of the vote is the most any candidate has received in a Chicago mayoral election.
Jesús G. "Chuy" García is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Illinois's 4th district since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served on the Cook County Board of Commissioners, as well as in the Illinois Senate and on the Chicago City Council before his election to Congress. He was also a candidate for mayor of Chicago in 2015 and 2023. Throughout his career in Chicago and national politics, he has been described as a progressive.
Willie Wilson is an American businessman and perennial candidate from Chicago, Illinois. He unsuccessfully ran in the 2015, 2019, and 2023 Chicago mayoral elections, the 2016 United States presidential election, and for the United States Senate in 2020.
The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 3, 2020. Elections were held for Clerk of the Circuit Court, State's Attorney, Cook County Board of Review district 1, three seats on the Water Reclamation District Board, and judgeships on the Circuit Court of Cook County.
The Cook County, Illinois, general elections were held on November 8, 2022. Primaries were held on June 28, 2022.
The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 7, 2006.
Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 4, 1986.
The 2022 Illinois gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Illinois, concurrently with the 2022 Illinois general election. Gubernatorial candidates ran on tickets with candidates for lieutenant governor. The incumbent governor and lieutenant governor, first-term Democrats J. B. Pritzker and Juliana Stratton, sought re-election together against Republican nominees Illinois State Senator Darren Bailey and his running mate Stephanie Trussell.
Michael F. Sheahan is an American politician and sheriff. He formerly served as Sheriff of Cook County, Illinois and as a Chicago alderman.
The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 6, 1990.
The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 4, 1986.
Clarence Bernard "Bernie" Carey Jr. was an American politician who served as Cook County State's Attorney from 1972 through 1980. Afterwards, he would serve on the Cook County Board of Commissioners and as a judge on the Circuit Court of Cook County.
The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 8, 1994.
Donald H. Haider is an American business professor and politician. He has long been a business professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. He ran in 1987 as a Republican nominee for mayor of Chicago.
The 1998 Cook County Board of Commissioners election was held on November 3, 1998. It was preceded by a primary election held on March 17, 1998. It coincided with other 1998 Cook County, Illinois, elections. It saw all seventeen seats of the Cook County Board of Commissioners up for election to four-year terms.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)