1887 Chicago mayoral election

← 1885

April 5, 1887^[1]


Nominee	John A. Roche	Robert S. Nelson
Party	Republican	Socialist Labor
Popular vote	51,249	23,490
Percentage	68.23%	31.27%

Mayor before election

Carter Harrison Sr.
Democratic

Elected Mayor

John A. Roche
Republican

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Chicago

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The Chicago mayoral election of 1887 saw Republican John A. Roche win by a landslide, receiving more than a two-thirds majority of the vote, defeating Socialist Robert S. Nelson by more than 36 points (a margin of victory which was itself greater than Nelson's vote share).

Lack of Democratic nominee[]

The Democratic Party failed to field a candidate.

Incumbent Democrat Carter Harrison Sr. had opted to retire as mayor.^[2]^[3] Harrison had lost the backing of his party. This came amid declining public support for Harrison. Among other reasons, Harrison had lost the Party's backing were his handling of the Haymarket Riot and his failure to receive the endorsement of the United Labor Party (which he had attempted to convince to support him in the fusion ticket with the Democrats).^[4]^[5] His handling of the Haymarket affair also harmed his standing with business groups.^[5] Another factor in his decision to not seek reelection was election scandals relating to charges brought against individuals of election fraud which, while having little to do with Harrison's own personal conduct, were still prospectively damaging to his chances of victory.^[5]^[6]

The Democratic Party nominated DeWitt Clinton Cregier, who refused their nomination.^[3] After this, and despite his declared intent to retire, they attempted to nominate Harrison, who also refused their nomination.^[3]

Campaign[]

Roche ran as a fiscally conservative "law-and-order" candidate.^[5]

Roche was regarded by many Democrats to be the lesser of two evils.^[7] Behind-the-scenes, Roche received unlikely support from such Democrats at Michael Cassius McDonald.^[7] Incumbent Harrison, while not backing either candidate, dismissed many Democrats' worries about the prospect of a Nelson mayoralty, and also cautioned that a Roche election could spur the passage of additional blue laws.^[7]

Results[]

Roche received a roughly 27,000-vote margin-of-victory, at the time the greatest in the city's history.^[7]

**1887 Chicago mayoral election**^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John A. Roche	51,249	68.23
	Socialist Labor	Robert S. Nelson	23,490	31.27
	Prohibition	Joseph L. Whitlock	372	0.50
Turnout			75,111

References[]

^ Currey, Josiah Seymour (1912). Chicago: Its History and Its Builders, a Century of Marvelous Growth. S. J. Clarke publishing Company. p. 335.
^ Kantowicz, Edward. “The Emergence of the Polish-Democratic Vote in Chicago.” Polish American Studies, vol. 29, no. 1/2, 1972, pp. 67–80. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20147849.
^ ^a ^b ^c History of Chicago, Illinois by John Moses page 233 (293 in Google's digitalized form)
^ http://www.wiu.edu/cas/history/wihr/pdfs/Buller-WIHRvol2.pdf
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Miller, Donald L. (2014). City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America. Rosetta Books. pp. 731–732. ISBN 978-0-7953-3985-1. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
^ Morton, Richard Allen (29 June 2016). "Roger C. Sullivan and the Making of the Chicago Democratic Machine, 1881-1908". McFarland. p. 39. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Lindberg, Richard C. (2009). The Gambler King of Clark Street: Michael C. McDonald and the Rise of Chicago's Democratic Machine. SIU Press. pp. 140–141. ISBN 978-0-8093-8654-3. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
^ The Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year Book for 1912. Chicago Daily News, Incorporated. 1911. p. 464. Retrieved 12 May 2020.

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Other state executive offices	Attorney General 2018 2022 Secretary of State 2022 Comptroller 2016
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Statewide ballot referendums	Cutback Amendment (1980) Illinois Governor Recall Amendment (2010) Illinois Public Pension Amendment (2012) Marsy's Law (2014) Illinois Right to Vote Amendment (2014) Illinois Fair Tax (2020)
Chicago mayoral	1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 (Mar) 1844 (Apr) 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1865 1867 1869 1871 1873 1876 (Apr) 1876 (Jul) 1877 1879 1881 1883 1885 1887 1889 1891 1893 (Apr) 1893 (Dec) 1895 1897 1899 1901 1903 1905 1907 1911 1915 1919 1923 1927 1931 1935 1939 1943 1947 1951 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1977 1979 1983 1987 1989 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Chicago City Council	1923 1927 1929 2015 2019
Other municipal	1924 Cicero
Cook County	1946 1980 (State's Attorney) 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022

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