1911 Chicago mayoral election

Carter Harrison Jr., who had previously served four terms as mayor, defeated former mayor Edward F. Dunne as well as Andrew J. Graham (a wealthy banker)[4][5] in the Democratic primary on February 28.[1][6] Harrison's margin of victory in the primary was very narrow.[7]

Harrison had, in late 1910, formed a political alliance with William Randolph Hearst.[8] Their mutual interest was that they both sought to oust political boss Roger Charles Sullivan and his network.[8]

Dunne announced his candidacy on November 19, 1910. His candidacy came as somewhat of a surprise, as his chances of winning appeared unrealistic.[8] However, he had a few factors that were still to his advantage. One was that he had strong support among the city's Irish middle class.[8] Another was that he was a reform-minded politician in an election year in which reform seemed important to voters.[8] Shortly after he announced his candidacy, he received backing from reformist figures such as alderman John J. Bradley (who would serve as manager of his campaign), William Emmett Dever, Margaret Haley, Clarence Darrow, and Raymond Robins.[8] Dunne's platform called for improving service and lowering the prices of gas and electricity, nighttime waste collection, universal transfers, the construction of city-owned subways, a consolidation of Chicago and Cook County, and the creation of parks administrations.[8] He also pledged to root out graft, bomb throwing.[8] He pledged to instill a government which emphasized, "decency towards and fair treatment of the citizen from public officials".[8] He would adopt "wet" stance, opposing prohibition of alcohol.[8] While Dunne's campaign had an invigorated launch, receiving the support many reformist endorsers, most of the press and political professionals still disregarded his prospects.[8]

Andrew J. Graham announce his candidacy on December 9, 1910.[9] was backed by Roger Charles Sullivan.[9] He, in essence, ran as Sullivan's hand-picked candidate.[8] Graham was a prominent banker from the city's West Side, who was a longtime friend and associate of Sullivan's.[9] Graham was known for acts of philanthropy which had earned him popularity in his locality of the city.[9] With no political record, it was difficult for opponents to make political attacks on him.[9] Graham's platform placed a focus on eliminating graft, pointing specifically to kinds of graft which incumbent mayor Busse's administration had been disgraced by.[9] He also advocated a consolidation of Chicago and Cook County (something that would have served the political interests of Sullivan).[9] He wanted subways and universal transfers.[9] He supported "personal liberty", which was a euphemistic way of saying that he supported protecting access to alcoholic drinks.[9] Less than a week after he declared his candidacy, Graham received the formal endorsement of the Democratic Party of Cook County Committee. He received 63 votes from the 84 members who were present at the vote (former Sheriff John E. Traeger had received two votes and Harrison received no votes, and fourteen abstentions were made).[8] Graham's official campaign manager was Thomas F. Flynn.[8]

Other individuals that had been speculated as potential candidates for the Democratic nomination included Fred W. Blocki, John T. Connery, Henry Gibbons, Charles F. Gunther, Lockwood Honoré, Ernst Hummel, James Hamilton Lewis, Charles J. Vopicka, and Charles H. Wacker.[10]

The platforms of candidates did not heavily differ on substance.[8] The primary was heavily centered upon personal attacks between opponents.[8] In its (biased) coverage, Hearst's Examiner emphasized Graham's connection with Sullivan, who the paper caricatured and portrayed as a villain.[8] The Examiner reported on and exaggerated Sullivan's involvement with the local utility trust People's Gas Light & Coke Company, and claimed that Graham was running to simply keep gas prices high.[8] Harrison used this narrative too, calling Sullivan the "gas dictator".[8] Harrison declared himself to be the "Anti-Roger C. Sullivan and Anti-Gas candidate".[8] He proclaimed that "Roger Sullivan is not a Democrat" and that neither was Graham.[8] Roger's supporters went to great lengths to describe Sullivan as an immense villain.[8] In an attempt to directly counter these attacks, for the first time in two decades, Sullivan delivered stump speeches, breaking his longtime policy of not delivering public speeches.[8]

Graham ran an extensive billboard advertising campaign, utilizing as many as 3,000 billboards.[8] At first, most of his billboards used simple slogans such as "No Graft at the City Hall" and "A Seat for Every Pupil in the Public Schools".[8] Eventually, the campaign began using former Hearst quotes and cartoons from 1904 (when Harrison had opposed Hearst's presidential campaign) that vilified Harrison.[8]

Graham received a celebrity endorsement from world heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson.[8]

Dunne, while for much of the race having not been widely covered by the press and largely ignored by his opponents, attacked both Harrison and Graham.[8] He accused Harrison of sabotaging his reelection campaign in 1907, and called Graham a puppet of Sullivan, who he claimed had also for sabotaged his reelection campaign in 1907 .[8] After weeks of the press and both of his opponents largely disregarding him, Dunne's candidacy had begun to gain momentum, and the race began to move in his favor.[8] Dunne secured the endorsment of the Chicago Federation of Labor.[8] The betting odds at James Patrick O'Leary's betting house, which had originally been 4-5 for Graham, 8-5 for Harrison, and 5-2 for Dunne, had changed to 3-5 for Graham, 9-5 for Harrison and 7-7 for Dunne.[8]

By the closing weeks of the race, Graham's odds of winning had subsided.[8] There were even some reports that members of Sullivan's own coalition were quietly changing their support over to Dunne's campaign.[8] In the closing weeks of the race, Dunne had ceased attacks on Graham and Roger Sullivan in his stump.[8] He focused his campaign on appealing to reformist sentiments that had been strengthened by the scandals of Busse's administration and the scandals of William Lorimer.[8] Cater Harrison, meanwhile, was focusing his campaign on convincing Democrats that he had strong electability for the general election, as well as using promises of patronage to his advantage.[8] Harrison seized on reports that part of Sullivan's coalition was shifting their support to Dunne, painting Dunne as being tied to Sullivan.[8]

The initial result was so narrow, with a 1,420 vote margin of victory of Harrison, that Dunne requested a recount. A recount was held, with Sullivan remaining the victor.[8]

Incumbent mayor Fred A. Busse did not seek a second term. Despite the high hopes some supporters had for him, Busse's term had been rather uneventful in regards to achievements.[11] Additionally, Busse's administration was plagued by allegations of graft.[8] Busse reportedly believed that he would be able to defeat Merriam in the primary, but did not believe that he could beat a Democratic opponent in the general election.[12]

Educator and politician Charles E. Merriam (a strong proponent of progressivism) defeated a number of candidates, including restaurateur[13] John R. Thompson and former Illinois Treasurer John F. Smulski.

Smulski was considered to be a leader in the city's Polish community.[8] He received the backing of Governor Charles Deneen and noted businessman John R. Thomspon.[8] He was seen as a natural heir to receive the support of Busse's political base.[8] He ran on a campaign calling for clean and efficient government rooted in "Progressive Republicanism" based on "the value of conservation as applied to municipal affairs as in the relation to state and national interests".[8] He aimed to launch "a straight challenge to the graft system, spoils system, and the special privilege system".[8] Some of Dunne's reformist colleagues backed this Republican candidate over their Dunne, including Raymond Robins who campaigned extensively won Smulski's behalf.[8] The Chicago Federation of Labor endorsed him for the Republican nomination.[8]

During his run, Merriam's campaign manager was Harold Ickes.[14][15]

Merriam benefited from a reformist sentiment that had been fed by revelations of municipal corruption that he had played a large role in originally uncovering.[8]

The Prohibition Party nominated William A. Brubaker,[17] its 1907 mayoral nominee and the chairman of the Prohibition Central Committee of Cook County.[18]

William E. Rodriguez won the Socialist nomination.

Harrison was able to win a relatively-narrow victory.[19]

According to polls, Harrison received 68.91% of the Polish-American vote, while Merriam received 24.40% and Rodriguez received 5.60%.[24]