1927 Chicago mayoral election

Results of the Democratic primary by ward[26]

Dever faced no genuine opposition from within his party.[27] Attorney Martin Walsh of the 27th ward filed on February 2, claiming to have the backing of "the old municipal ownership leaders" and joining the race "to give Mayor Dever a little exercise."[28] Barratt O'Hara, former Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, withdrew from the race on February 11, claiming that running against Dever was hopeless and that Democrats opposed to Dever would vote in the Republican primary for Thompson.[29]

Although he overwhelmingly defeated his token opponent, winning all the wards and securing the citywide vote by more than 10 to 1,[24][26] Dever's vote total in the Democratic primary was less than the margin of victory Thompson had secured in the Republican primary.[9][25] Dever's camp argued that this was not a bad omen but rather that, due to the lack of a competitive race in the Democratic primary, many of Dever's supporters either did not participate in the primaries or voted instead for Thompson in the Republican primary to try and nominate the weaker prospective opponent.[25] Dever anticipated that he would still be able to win reelection with more than 600,000 votes in the general election.[25]

Results of the Republican primary by ward[24][26]

Edward R. Litsinger was the main primary opponent that Thompson faced

Edward R. Litsinger, who was chairman of the Cook County Board of Review and backed by reform-minded U.S. Senator Charles S. Deneen and Edward J. Brundage,[20][30] (the latter of whom had split from his political ally Robert E. Crowe by supporting Litsinger[31]) announced his platform on January 9.[30] He promised to compel the City Council to adopt an ordinance that would end the Chicago Traction Wars and mandate a board of control and the consolidation of all transportation lines,[lower-alpha 3] to construct subways, to form a police investigation into the rampant crime, to look at causes of recent tax increases and investigate potential ways to reverse them, and to clean up streets and alleys.[30]

Robertson initially planned to run in the primary before dropping out in favor of Litsinger per his agreement with Lundin, mounting an independent bid upon Litsinger's primary loss.[20][34] Former policeman Eugene McCaffrey filed for candidacy on February 2 and attracted suspicion as many of the names on his petition sheets appeared to have been written in the same handwriting.[28] He was allowed on the ballot and received more than 1,500 votes.[24]

The Republican primary was marked by intense vitriol between the candidates.[35] Thompson accused Robertson of messy eating, stating that "[With] eggs in his whiskers, soup on his vest, you'd think the doc got his education driving a garbage wagon."[35] Robertson retaliated, accusing Thompson of corruption.[35] Litsinger reiterated such accusations against Thompson and further accused Thompson of conspiring to get 50,000 Democratic votes.[35] Both candidates asserted that they were guaranteed victory and accused the other of conspiring to steal the primary.[35]

In an open letter, Thompson charged that Edward Brundage and Fred Lundin were suburbanites and were guilty of betraying their city roots.[34] He also alleged that Litsinger, who had come from Back of the Yards, had abandoned his roots, writing "You moved to the Gold Coast. Are you thinking of joining the high brows of Lake Forest and becoming a resident of Lake County too?"[34]

Thompson won by a surprisingly large margin;[36] to many, his victory itself was a surprise.[34] He carried 49 of the city's 50 wards.[36] After Thompson's victory both partisans of Robertson and Democratic leaders claimed that Democratic voters for Thompson had propelled him to the Republican nomination, with the Democrats claiming that they did so in order to give Dever a weaker opponent in the general election.[27] With Thompson's primary victory Robertson launched his independent campaign on February 23.[37]

Thompson campaign poster

A campaign ad in support of Thompson bearing the slogan "America First"

Ad run by the "Independent Dever Committee" in the Chicago Tribune

Thompson accused Dever of treason.[40] Using the slogan "America First",[40][41] he alleged that school superintendent William McAndrew was a British agent sent by King George as part of a grand conspiracy to manipulate the minds of American children and set the groundwork for the United Kingdom to repossess the United States; he accused the "left-handed Irishman" Dever of being part of the plot.[40][42] Thompson based these claims on McAndrew being critical of such artworks as Archibald Willard's The Spirit of '76 and allowing the use in schools of textbooks which Thompson believed were unpatriotic.[40] Thompson declared that his America First slate would elect so many of its candidates that "the king of England will find out for the first time he is damned unpopular",[8] and implied that he might have Dever sent to jail.[8] He described Dever as "very weak, no courage, no manhood, doesn't know how to fight".[8] He promised to reform the police department by ending enforcement of prohibition.[43] He also criticized the League of Nations and the World Court.[44] Democratic chief Brennan said that "All the hoodlums are for Thompson", which Thompson used to convince his supporters that the Democrats were elitist and looked down upon them.[43] Campaigning for German votes, Thompson stated:

They called me pro-German during the war because I kept my oath to protect the people. If you make a mistake and vote for some one who doesn't care for you or his oath to God, you'll have to pay the penalty. If I'm elected mayor, I'll build the largest town hall in the world where your German choruses of 25,000 voices can sing as they never have before.[43]

Dever refused to engage in Thompson's style of rhetoric.[45][46] He instead promised to engage in a debate of substantive issues, partaking only in a "decent, friendly discussion without malice or sensationalism".[26] He responded to Thompson's accusations by declaring them "blarney" which he had no intention of dignifying,[45] and noting that Thompson's comments on international affairs were irrelevant to the duties and powers of the mayoralty.[44] He ran on the slogans "Dever for Decency" and "The best mayor Chicago ever had",[43] the former also used by The Independent Republicans for Dever Committee.[47] He attempted, particularly early in the race, to tout parts of his record such as his construction of Wacker Drive and 51 new schools, as well as a pure milk ordinance he had helped pass.[25] He promised to continue his construction program, including building a long-anticipated State Street subway and widening LaSalle Street.[lower-alpha 5][25] He did concede that "no superman can be found to eliminate crime".[25]

Supporters of both Thompson and Dever resorted to bigotry.[45] Some Republicans used anti-Catholic rhetoric against Dever.[45] Some Democrats attempted to take advantage of Thompson's positive relation with the city's African-American community and divide voters racially,[49] claiming that Thompson's election would lead to "Negro supremacy".[45] Palm cards were circulated with an image of Thompson kissing a black boy and with the reverse side reading "Thompson—Me Africa First".[50] Some Democrats hired black people to canvass white neighborhoods for Thompson in an effort to scare white voters.[50] They also attempted to lure black Thompson voters downtown, where they did not often go, with a fake rally outside of Thompson's campaign headquarters.[50] Supporters of each candidate accused the other's supporters of plotting to use underhanded tactics to steal the election.[45]

Robertson continued his platform of quashing crime, promising to "find another Theodore Roosevelt" as police chief and smash organized crime within thirty days.[51] Also running was George Koop,[38] who had previously been the Socialist candidate for mayor in 1907.[52]

Deneen backed Thompson after his primary defeat.[34] The Cook County Wage-Earners' League ran an advertisement for Thompson in the Chicago Tribune, in which it claimed that 95 percent of the trades unions in Chicago endorsed him.[53] Thompson was backed by two Hearst-owned newspapers, as well as the African-American Daily Defender and L'Italia, the city's second-best selling Italian newspaper.[47] Martin Walsh, who had run against Dever in the Democratic Primary, served as a stump speaker for Thompson.[54] Thompson received the endorsement of Al Capone after promising lax enforcement of Prohibition.[55] It was public knowledge that Capone was supporting Thompson's campaign effort,[45] collecting campaign contributions from those who sold his beer.[55] Capone donated between $100,000[lower-alpha 6][44] and $500,000[lower-alpha 7][56] to Thompson's campaign. Other crime figures backing Thompson included Jack Zuta,[56] who gave $50,000[lower-alpha 8] to his campaign,[57] Timothy D. Murphy, and Vincent Drucci.[56]

Dever was endorsed by prominent reformers campaigning for "Dever and Decency" on his behalf,[44] including Charles Edward Merriam, Harriet Vittum, Harold L. Ickes, and Jane Addams.[47][58] The Ministerial Association of Chicago also endorsed Dever, calling him "the best mayor Chicago ever had ... [and] as loyal as a Catholic as he is [a] citizen".[59] He was backed by businessmen Sewell Avery, Julius Rosenwald, and W. A. Wieboldt,[47] as well as university presidents Max Mason and Walter Dill Scott and attorney Orville James Taylor.[47] He was also backed by socialites Louise deKoven Bowen and Edward Ryerson Jr, as well as builder Potter Palmer and Donald Richberg.[47] Four of the city's daily newspapers backed Dever, as did the city's largest Polish, Jewish, and Italian newspapers.[25]

Robertson was supported by the incumbent[lower-alpha 9] 43rd ward alderman Arthur F. Albert,[61] whose opponent Titus Haffa endorsed Thompson.[62] Henry F. Batterman, Lundin's 41st ward committeeman, supported Robertson before crossing over to Thompson.[54]

Thompson won the election with more than 51 percent of votes cast,[38] carrying 28 of the city's 50 wards.[43] Dever's campaign ultimately failed to achieve momentum; Thompson had dominated the discourse early on and left Dever's supporters struggling to react to Thompson's campaign and ultimately failing to fully promote Dever's own message.[45]

Dever saw a significant decline in support from the Democratic party's stronghold, the city's white, working-class, inner-city wards.[45] His support improved in traditionally Republican White Anglo-Saxon Protestant precincts along Chicago's lakeshore.[45] Thompson carried the black vote by more than 10 to 1,[45] taking the three wards of Chicago's "black belt" by more than 59,000 votes.[63] According to one study, Thompson received 42.20 percent of the Polish-American vote, Dever 54.07 percent and Robertson 3.73 percent;[64] other sources suggest Thompson may have carried as much as 46 percent of the Polish-American vote.[65] By some accounts, Thompson carried 41 percent of the Czech-American vote and 43 percent of the Lithuanian-American vote, groups that typically firmly supported Democrats.[65] He also won more than 60 percent of the German-American and Swedish-American votes,[66] as well as the Italian-American and Jewish votes.[65] Edward Mazur divided his study of the Jewish vote into two groups, the European/German Jews and the Eastern European Jews.[67] He found that Eastern European Jewish precincts were carried by Thompson 55 to 41 percent, while the German Jewish precincts were carried by Dever 62 to 35 percent.[67]