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 election was held two years earlier than the next regularly scheduled mayoral election due to the death in office of Harold Washington. Eugene Sawyer had been appointed Mayor by the City Council to serve until the special election. He was defeated by Daley in the Democratic primary.

Background A lawsuit was filed by an anti-Sawyer coalition of black activists and several Harold Washington supporters demanding a special election be held as soon as possible.

On May 5, 1988, Eugene Wachowski, judge of the Cook County Circuit Court, held that a special election would be required to be held in 1989 on the basis of three previous rulings by Circuit, Appellate, and Supreme Court judges and by a 1978 legislative debate from when the Illinois General Assembly passed the then-current election law.

Democratic primary Richard M. Daley won the Democratic primary, defeating Eugene Sawyer, who had been appointed mayor by City Council following the death of Harold Washington. He also faced Sheila A. Jones and James C. Taylor (State Senator who had also been chief of staff in Jane Byrne's mayoral administration).

Candidates Richard M. Daley Sheila A. Jones, candidate for mayor of Chicago in 1987 Eugene Sawyer, incumbent mayor James C. Taylor, state senator, former chief of staff to Chicago mayor Jane Byrne

Withdrew Edward M. Burke, alderman Lawrence S. Bloom, alderman

Denied ballot access Timothy C. Evans, alderman Juan Soliz

Declined to run Ed Kelly, former Chicago Park District superintendent

Campaign While Daley was considered a poor public speaker, and sometimes a timid campaigner, he ran an effective campaign. In 1983, he was widely viewed merely as the son of the former mayor Richard J. Daley. In 1987, he had crafted an image of a strong public administrator. Daley's campaign was run by two young consultants that had previously worked on Paul Simon's 1984 United States Senate campaign, David Wilhelm and David Axelrod. His deputy campaign manager was Julie Hamos. His fundraising was headed by John Schmidt and Paul Stepan. Avis LaVelle served as his campaign press spokesperson.

One of Sawyer's first missteps was his choice for campaign leadership. Sawyer's campaign was managed by Louisiana political consultant Reynard Rochon. Rochon, being an outsider to Chicago politics, did not understand many important aspects of it. Additionally, Rochon spent much of his time working remotely from New Orleans. Sawyer did raise significant funds for his candidacy, but was also hampered by his personality — Sawyer was a low-key individual and eschewed interviews.

A media consultant was brought from Boston to film campaign commercials for Sawyer. Most of the ads were positive, highlighting the accomplishments of Sawyer's brief tenure. However, there were a few ads that attacked Daley by portraying him as stupid and unable to complete a sentence on his own. The campaign overspent on media advertising and failed to spend enough on literature, field operations, and lawn signs. Ultimately, Sawyer's campaign lacked a strong field operation.

The African-American anti-Sawyer faction, whose members were responsible for the lawsuit that led to the special election being ordered, rallied around Alderman Timothy C. Evans, whom they viewed as the proper heir to Washington's political legacy. Evans' allies criticized Sawyer; one of them, Dorothy Tillman, called the mayor an "Uncle Tom." Another alderman in Evans' camp was Bobby Rush. In July 1988, after receiving months of attacks from pro-Evans aldermen, Sawyer retaliated by stripping them of their committee chairmanships in a City Council restructuring.

African-American support was reported to be split between Sawyer and Evans. Sawyer attempted to broker a deal to get Evans to withdraw from the primary, but in a stroke of luck for Sawyer, Evans was ultimately removed from the ballot. Evans ultimately appeared on the November ballot as the candidate of the Harold Washington Party.

Daley, Sawyer, and Bloom participated in a debate. This was the last debate that Daley participated in as a candidate for mayor, as he did not participate in any debate during the general election or any of his subsequent re-election campaigns.

In December, Edward M. Burke withdrew from the race and endorsed Daley. Just under two weeks before the day of the primary, Alderman Lawrence S. Bloom withdrew his candidacy and endorsed Sawyer. Bloom had entered the race in September 1988 and had originally started his campaign near the front of the pack, benefiting from what the press referred to as a "squeaky clean" reputation.

During the campaign, Daley and Sawyer avoided lodging personal attacks, and both called for racial harmony.

Endorsements

Results

Daley won a majority of the vote in 31 of the city's 50 wards, with Sawyer winning a majority of the vote in the remaining 19 wards.

Results by ward Results by ward Ward Richard M. Daley Eugene Sawyer Lawrence S. Bloom James C. Taylor Sheila A. Jones Total Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes 1 8,321 50.8% 7,854 48.0% 118 0.7% 38 0.2% 38 0.2% 16,369 2 650 4.7% 12,903 93.8% 97 0.7% 56 0.4% 46 0.3% 13,752 3 408 3.1% 12,379 95.5% 59 0.5% 78 0.6% 37 0.3% 12,961 4 2,005 13.2% 12,938 84.9% 210 1.4% 61 0.4% 31 0.2% 15,245 5 2,341 13.0% 15,345 85.2% 235 1.3% 61 0.3% 22 0.1% 18,004 6 696 2.7% 24,460 95.8% 176 0.7% 131 0.5% 61 0.2% 25,524 7 2,389 18.1% 10,690 81.0% 75 0.6% 28 0.2% 23 0.2% 13,205 8 724 3.2% 21,508 95.6% 118 0.5% 103 0.5% 38 0.2% 22,491 9 1,075 6.7% 14,848 92.2% 59 0.4% 86 0.5% 35 0.2% 16,103 10 9,364 58.3% 6,586 41.0% 62 0.4% 23 0.1% 18 0.1% 16,053 11 18,496 88.4% 2,311 11.1% 70 0.3% 18 0.1% 18 0.1% 20,913 12 15,843 88.6% 1,956 10.9% 52 0.3% 20 0.1% 14 0.1% 17,885 13 29,801 96.6% 932 3.0% 98 0.3% 15 0.0% 6 0.0% 30,852 14 15,444 86.8% 2,269 12.8% 58 0.3% 17 0.1% 8 0.0% 17,796 15 3,844 24.4% 11,691 74.3% 85 0.5% 82 0.5% 42 0.3% 15,744 16 413 2.9% 13,251 93.7% 57 0.4% 379 2.7% 37 0.3% 14,137 17 466 2.7% 16,881 96.3% 68 0.4% 77 0.4% 43 0.2% 17,535 18 14,456 55.6% 11,330 43.6% 99 0.4% 65 0.3% 29 0.1% 25,979 19 23,993 82.6% 4,895 16.9% 112 0.4% 22 0.1% 18 0.1% 29,040 20 457 3.2% 13,709 95.5% 71 0.5% 63 0.4% 48 0.3% 14,348 21 598 2.7% 21,700 96.2% 96 0.4% 108 0.5% 46 0.2% 22,548 22 3,532 67.9% 1,631 31.4% 19 0.4% 11 0.2% 6 0.1% 5,199 23 27,815 97.1% 739 2.6% 79 0.3% 5 0.0% 5 0.0% 28,643 24 426 2.7% 14,897 95.9% 78 0.5% 92 0.6% 35 0.2% 15,528 25 4,561 64.3% 2,481 35.0% 32 0.5% 14 0.2% 10 0.1% 7,098 26 6,976 72.0% 2,609 26.9% 71 0.7% 13 0.1% 23 0.2% 9,692 27 1,653 15.2% 9,078 83.5% 55 0.5% 59 0.5% 23 0.2% 10,868 28 328 2.7% 11,902 96.4% 47 0.4% 50 0.4% 23 0.2% 12,350 29 1,050 7.6% 12,621 91.5% 37 0.3% 53 0.4% 27 0.2% 13,788 30 13,099 81.1% 2,971 18.4% 57 0.4% 16 0.1% 16 0.1% 16,159 31 6,103 64.4% 3,317 35.0% 40 0.4% 13 0.1% 10 0.1% 9,483 32 10,650 81.3% 2,305 17.6% 105 0.8% 16 0.1% 21 0.2% 13,097 33 13,425 86.2% 1,995 12.8% 127 0.8% 11 0.1% 19 0.1% 15,577 34 520 2.6% 19,225 96.3% 89 0.4% 85 0.4% 35 0.2% 19,954 35 14,348 91.1% 1,310 8.3% 75 0.5% 10 0.1% 6 0.0% 15,749 36 23,193 92.6% 1,724 6.9% 103 0.4% 6 0.0% 12 0.0% 25,038 37 783 5.8% 12,696 93.3% 37 0.3% 69 0.5% 30 0.2% 13,615 38 23,980 95.1% 1,146 4.5% 72 0.3% 3 0.0% 6 0.0% 25,207 39 16,659 90.2% 1,680 9.1% 102 0.6% 12 0.1% 10 0.1% 18,463 40 12,715 87.7% 1,678 11.6% 89 0.6% 11 0.1% 11 0.1% 14,504 41 25,990 93.2% 1,780 6.4% 108 0.4% 2 0.0% 9 0.0% 27,889 42 12,136 64.9% 6,354 34.0% 156 0.8% 31 0.2% 25 0.1% 18,702 43 17,050 80.6% 3,909 18.5% 161 0.8% 16 0.1% 13 0.1% 21,149 44 13,960 75.4% 4,253 23.0% 262 1.4% 11 0.1% 19 0.1% 18,505 45 24,541 94.0% 1,432 5.5% 112 0.4% 10 0.0% 10 0.0% 26,105 46 9,200 64.3% 4,924 34.4% 142 1.0% 19 0.1% 25 0.2% 14,310 47 14,841 85.3% 2,404 13.8% 123 0.7% 7 0.0% 22 0.1% 17,397 48 9,094 63.9% 4,915 34.5% 171 1.2% 23 0.2% 23 0.2% 14,226 49 8,428 62.2% 4,894 36.1% 193 1.4% 24 0.2% 18 0.1% 13,557 50 16,342 87.1% 2,229 11.9% 168 0.9% 10 0.1% 10 0.1% 18,759 Total 485,182 55.3% 383,535 43.7% 4,985 0.6% 2,233 0.3% 1,160 0.1% 877,095

Voter turnout was 200,000 less in the primary than it had been in the regularly scheduled mayoral primary two years prior. The decrease was even more pronounced in black neighborhoods than it had been in white neighborhoods.

According to a New York Times—WBBM-TV poll found that Daley received 91% of the white vote, to Sawyers 8%. It found, in contrast, that Sawyer received 94% of the black vote, to Daley's 5%. The poll also found that Jewish and Hispanic voters, who Sawyer had hoped to capture the support of, had strongly went for Daley. It found that Daley got 83% of the Jewish vote, to Sawyer's 15%. It also found that Daley got 84% of the Hispanic vote, to Sawyer's 15%. Additionally, the poll found that three-fourths of whites that had previously voted for Harold Washington voted for Daley.

Republican primary Candidates William J. Grutzmacher. Kenneth R. Hurst Herbert Sohn, urologist

Write-in candidates Edward Vrdolyak, alderman, former chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party, 1987 Illinois Solidarity Party nominee for mayor

Withdrew John Holowinski Bernard Stone, Chicago alderman

Denied ballot access Alfred Walter Balciunas, Edward L. Bowe Arthur J. Jones, neo-Nazi Gene Kulichenko Dean Rosenburg Jon Silverstein

Declined to run Ed Kelly, former Chicago Park District superintendent

Campaign Less than two weeks before the day of the primary election, a movement emerged to draft 1987 Illinois Solidarity Party nominee Edward Vrdolyak as a write-in candidate for the Republican primary. Vrdolyak obliged, launching a last-minute a write-in campaign for the nomination only a week before the late February primary.

He defeated the GOP-backed Sohn by more than a thousand votes, which put him out of reach of the 5% spread for a recount to be triggered. Nearly 5000 of Vdrolyak's votes, representing close to half of his total, came from the 10th Ward he represented.

An additional candidate seeking the nomination, John Holowinski, had withdrawn from the race in late January.

Results

Harold Washington Party nomination

Timothy C. Evans, who had been unable to run for the Democratic nomination due to issues regarding his petition, received the Harold Washington Party's nomination.

Other candidates Independent candidate Peter Davis Kauss saw his name excluded from the ballot due to issues with his petition.

General election Results Daley won the election by a fourteen-point margin.

Daley became the fifth (and, currently, the most recent) mayor to come from the city's Bridgeport neighborhood (after Edward J. Kelly, Martin H. Kennelly, Richard J. Daley, and Michael Bilandic).

Daley carried a majority of the vote in 31 of the city's 50 wards, with Evans carrying a majority of the vote in the remaining 19 wards.

Vroldyak only saw double-digit percentage of the votes in the 10th ward, which he had previously represented as an alderman. Elsewhere he saw only single-digit percentage of the vote.

Results by ward Results by ward