1893 Chicago mayoral special election
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In the Chicago mayoral special election of 1893, John Patrick Hopkins was elected mayor. The election was triggered by the assassination of mayor Carter Harrison Sr. (a Democrat that had been elected to his fifth non-consecutive term earlier that year). Following Harrison's death, Republican George Bell Swift had been appointed by City Council to serve as mayor until the special election could be held. In the election, which was held December 19,[1][2] Hopkins narrowly defeated Swift by a half-percent margin.
Background[]
After the assassination of mayor Cater Harrison Sr., George Bell Swift was appointed interim mayor by the Chicago City Council.[3]
While Swift had originally pledged to only be an interim mayor, it quickly became evident that he intended to seek the office permanently.[3] After taking office, Swift both began appointing Republicans to as many offices as he could, and allowed his political allies to build him a campaign organization.[3]
The election was held amid a nationwide economic depression.[3][4]
Democratic Party support had declined since the beginning of the economic downturn the nation was experiencing.[3] This was evidenced roughly a month before the election, when Republicans swept the November 7 county judicial elections.[3] However, this was result was largely attributable to a lopsided vote in favor of the Republicans in suburban Cook County, as Democrats led the portion of vote cast in Chicago city boundaries, albeit with a reduced majority over the previous election.[3]
Nominations[]
Democratic[]
Harrison's death had left Chicago's Democratic Party in search of a leader.[3] Numerous individuals were speculated as potential candidates. Top speculative contenders included President of the Chicago Board of Education , President of the Sanitary District of Chicago (a leading "Harrisonite"), and John P. Hopkins.[3] Others speculated that Harrison's son Carter Harrison Jr. might be an option.[3] Of those speculated Hopkins was viewed as the frontrunner from the start, as he was "looked upon with fear and trembling by city hall Democrats."[3]
Will all wanting to avoid being the target of focussed opposition, no candidates initially openly campaigned for the nomination.[3]
For several weeks Trude began to dip his toes in to the race, but formally opted against a run, giving the suspect excuse that he believed his running would have forced his brother George to resign his position as an election commissioner and be replaced by a Republican.[3]
Wenter went all-in as a candidate.[3] He was backed by the Chicago Times.[3] Wenter had the backing of Chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party John McGillen.[3]
Hopkins, while publicly admitting interest, did not formally declare himself a candidate until the last minute.[3] However, ward organizations had formed on his behalf even before he had formally declared.[3] By not formally entering until late in the race, he avoided receiving many direct attacks from other candidates.[3] Hopkins also eschewed formal support from any one faction of the Democratic Party, hoping to appeal as a candidate for all Democrats.[3] Hopkins, as a candidate, touted his connections and positive relationship with the Cleveland administration, as he claimed Chicago would benefit from it if he were mayor.[3] He flexed his sway with the Cleveland administration by securing his ally Washington Hesing an appointment as Postmaster of Chicago.[3]
In the primary to elect delegates for the city's nominating convention, Hopkins had a clear victory.[3]
In a last minute move, Chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party John McGillen, who supported Wenter, attempted to appoint himself chair of the convention, presumably so that he would be in a position to disqualify Hopkins delegates. However, the party's executive committee overruled this by a vote of 7 to 2.[3]
At the convention, it was Adolphus W. Green who formally nominated Hopkins.[3] Also nominated at the convention were Wenter and John A. King.[3] Both Wenter and King received few votes during balloting, and each withdrew their candidacies before the end of the first round of balloting.[3] Robert Emmett "Bobby" Burke moved to nominate Hopkins by acclamation.[3]
Republican[]
There was buzz that former mayor John A. Roche might back a challenge by Henry Wulff. However, Swift was ultimately easily nominated at the Republican convention.[3]
General election[]
After his nomination at the Democratic convention, a five-person committee was create to oversee efforts to support Hopkins' campaign. Members of this committee included Washington Hesing and Frank Lawler (the latter of whom had opposed Hopkins' candidacy before he won the nomination).[3] Hopkins appointed Lambert Tree, a close political ally, as his campaign manager.[3] Hopkins additionally worked with political ally Roger Charles Sullivan and others to plan his campaign.[3] Hopkins also appointed a "field marshal" for each ward.[3] Key members from what remainded of the Harrison wing of the party backed his candidacy, such as Frank Wenter and Robert Burke.[3] He also received the backing of reform-minded Democrats such as Clarence S. Darrow.[3]
The Democratic platform called for strict municipal bookkeeping, the elimination of unnecessary city employees, the removal of political influence from policing, and the elevation of railroad tracks to remove at-grade crossings.[3] The Republican platform was nearly identical to it, thus very little substance separated the two parties on key municipal issues during this campaign.[3]
Democrats and Republicans each strongly united behind their candidates.[3]
There as an attempt by Republicans to tie Hopkins to the Wilson–Gorman Tariff Act, then pending before congress.[3] Republicans argued that this act, by lowering tariffs, would negatively affect jobs of working class men.[3] However, this line of attack appeared to have very little impact.[3]
Two-days before the election, the Chicago Tribune launched a last-minute surprise in an attempt to sway voters by reporting that Hopkins had assisted in securing a city contract for his nephew William A. Lyndon's firm Lyndon & Drews to extend the "Hyde Park tunnel".[3] There were issues with the quality of the job that the firm had completed.[3] The Tribune also alleged that non-union labor had been used on the project.[3] The Tribune, with next to no evidence, implied that Hopkins had profited tremendously from this transaction.[3] This story appeared to have ultimately had little sway on voters, and was largely forgotten about after the election.[3]
Results[]
Hopkins won a narrow victory.[3] Hopkins became Chicago's first Irish-American mayor.[5] He was the city's first Irish-Catholic mayor.[6][7][8] The city has since elected six additional Irish Catholic mayors.[7]
At 35 years of age when he took office, Hopkins became the youngest mayor the city had ever had.[6][9][10][11]
While the victory was narrow, and showed a marked decline of Democratic support from the regular mayoral election held earlier in the year, it was also a victory that was celebrated by Democrats amid a downturn that had occurred in the party's electoral fortunes amid the nationwide economic downturn.[3]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | John Patrick Hopkins | 112,959 | 49.71 | |
| Republican | George Bell Swift (incumbent) | 111,660 | 49.14 | |
| Independent | Others | 2,599 | 1.14 | |
| Turnout | 227,218 | |||
Hopkins received 78.38% of the Polish-American vote, while Swift received 20.80%.[12]
References[]
- ^ a b The Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year Book for 1912. Chicago Daily News, Incorporated. 1911. p. 464. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ^ Currey, Josiah Seymour (1912). Chicago: Its History and Its Builders, a Century of Marvelous Growth. S. J. Clarke publishing Company. p. 335.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av Morton, Richard Allen (29 June 2016). "Roger C. Sullivan and the Making of the Chicago Democratic Machine, 1881-1908". McFarland. pp. 49–53. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
- ^ Kelly, Jack (2019-01-08). The Edge of Anarchy: The Railroad Barons, the Gilded Age, and the Greatest Labor Uprising in America. ISBN 9781250128867.
- ^ "Mayor John Patrick Hopkins Biography". Chicago Public Library. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
- ^ a b Hogan, John F. (2018). Chicago Shakedown: The Ogden Gas Scandal. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4396-6474-2. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
- ^ a b "The History of Chicago's Mayors - presented by Illinois Genealogy Trails". genealogytrails.com. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
- ^ "Mayor John Patrick Hopkins Biography". www.chipublib.org. Chicago Public Library. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
- ^ Lindberg, Richard C. (2009). The Gambler King of Clark Street: Michael C. McDonald and the Rise of Chicago's Democratic Machine. SIU Press. p. 292. ISBN 978-0-8093-8654-3. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
- ^ Illinois Political Directory. 1899. p. 265. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
- ^ Dana, Charles Anderson. A Centennial history of the city of Chicago – Its men and institutions. Jazzybee Verlag. p. 33. ISBN 978-3-8496-8799-1. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
- ^ 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.
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- Mayoral elections in Chicago
- 1893 United States mayoral elections
- 1893 Illinois elections
- 1890s in Chicago
- United States mayoral special elections
- Illinois special elections