1971 Chicago mayoral election
The Chicago mayoral election of 1971, held on April 6, 1971, was a contest between incumbent Democrat Richard J. Daley and Republican Richard E. Friedman.[2] Daley won by a landslide 40% margin, and it was his fifth consecutive mayoral win, the longest serving mayor of Chicago until that time.
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| Turnout | 68.9%[1]  4.1 pp | ||||||||||||||||
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Background
This was the final Chicago mayoral election held before the ratification of the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.
Daley was "lavishly endorsed" by many of the city's businessmen and civic leaders, including many who usually contribute to and vote for Republicans. The Republican Party had hoped that Friedman who be a reformist able to build a coalition of Republicans and independents to mount a strong challenge to Daley, but he was the "decided underdog." Chicago has not elected a Republican as mayor since William Hale Thompson won in 1927, before his Republican challenger, Friedman, was born.[3]
In the days ahead of voting on April 6, The New York Times described Chicago's public health facilities as "among the worst in the nation," with the infant mortality rate among the highest.[4] In a sign of accelerating "white flight" to the suburbs, the city's white population had decreased by up to 50,000 each year prior.[3] Daley's critics pointed to low‐income housing policies that confined Black Chicagoans in two underserved, poor areas, and Friedman focused his campaign attack on Daley's low-income housing policy.[3] One in eight city residents was on welfare at the time.[4] But, as The New York Times noted, "unless a voter is black, poor, rebellious, or involved in some contretemps with a Democratic precinct leader, his dissatisfaction with Mr. Daley is likely to be minute."
Nominations
On their party's primary ballots on February 23, 1971, both candidates ran unopposed.[5] 45.72% of registered voters participated in the city's municipal primary elections.[6]
Democratic primary
In December 1970, Daley, then 68 years old, announced he would seek a fifth term after much speculation by the public.[7] In a press conference announcing his reelection campaign, Daley remarked: "This election won't be won by speeches. It will have to be won by hard, hard work."[4] He won the Democratic primary on February 23, 1971 with about 375,000 votes, his lowest tally since 1959, but a figure nine times that of Friedman's primary tally.[5]
Republican primary
Richard Friedman, a 41-year-old independent Democrat running as a Republican, was an attorney and former executive director of the watchdog organization Better Government Association.[8][7][9] Friedman was endorsed by the Rev. Jesse Jackson.[8]
General election and results
Daley's 740,137 votes more than doubled his opponent's 318,059, and Daley won in all but two of the city's 50 wards.[8] Friedman carried the wards of Hyde Park and Armitage Street. The total votes were some 11,000 fewer than the previous mayoral race.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Richard J. Daley (incumbent) | 740,137 | 70.08 | |
| Republican | Richard E. Friedman | 315,969 | 29.92 | |
| Turnout | 1,056,106 | |||
References
- Denvir, Daniel (May 22, 2015). "Voter Turnout in U.S. Mayoral Elections Is Pathetic, But It Wasn't Always This Way". City Lab (The Atlantic). Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- Harper, Dan. "Subject and Course Guides: Daley Family Collections: About Richard J. Daley". researchguides.uic.edu. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
- Times, Seth S. King Special to The New York (March 28, 1971). "Mayor Daley Heads for His Fourth Re‐election". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
- New York Times, Mayor Daley Heads for His Fourth Re‐election, March 28, 1971
- Times, John Kifner Special to The New York (February 28, 1971). "DALEY MAINTAINS COUNCIL CONTROL". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
- Franklin, Tim (February 23, 1983). "Voter turnout of 80 percent dwarfs record". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Cohen, Adam; Taylor, Elizabeth (2001). American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley - His Battle for Chicago and the Nation. Little, Brown. pp. 290–294. ISBN 978-0-7595-2427-9.
- Times, Seth S. King Special to The New York (April 7, 1971). "Daley Wins Fifth Term in Chicago by a Big Majority". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
- "Two Crusaders, Reporter and Politician, Give Chicago a Lesson in Marital Clout".
- "Mayoral election results in Chicago". Newspapers.com. Chicago Tribune. April 3, 1979. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
- "Board of Election Commissioners For the City of Chicago Mayoral Election Results Since 1900 General Elections Only". Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. July 18, 2004. Archived from the original on July 18, 2004. Retrieved March 26, 2023.