Robert Shaw (Illinois politician)

Shaw served two tenures as the alderman from Chicago's ninth ward.[7][8] In 1975, Shaw challenged incumbent 9th Ward Alexander Adducci, coming within 100 votes of winning.[9]

Shaw was elected to the Chicago City Council in 1979, this time defeating Adducci.[8][9][10] Shaw rose to prominence as a main African American community ally of mayor Jane Byrne.[5] He received criticism from black independents when he voted in favor of Byrne's redistricting map for the city's wards, which a federal court would subsequently rule as being unfair to African Americans and latinos.[5] When black protesters showed up at the City Council chamber to protest Byrne's firing of black members of the Chicago Board of Education and the Chicago Housing Authority Board, Shaw called for the removal of the protesters and stood in support of Byrne and Chicago Housing Authority chairman Charles Swibel.[5]

In 1981, Shaw introduced legislation that would have stripped the city's personnel code by drastically increasing the number of patronage hires, taking 15,000 civil service jobs away from having job security and merit-based testing as a hiring practice. He partnered with Edward Vrdolyak on this legislation.[5][8][11] This legislation was vetoed by mayor Byrne.[5]

In 1981, Shaw introduced legislation that would require gas stations to have public restrooms. This was quickly shot down by the City Council.[12] In 1982, Shaw voted against the handgun ban ordinance championed by mayor Byrne. The legislation passed without his support.[13] Shaw lost reelection to Perry H. Hutchison in 1983.[8][14] Shaw's loss was attributed to his choice to endorse incumbent mayor Byrne over Harold Washington in the coinciding mayoral election.[3][5][6][15] Washington won 80% of the vote in the 9th ward during the Democratic mayoral primary.[5]

In 1987, Shaw defeated Hutchison to regain his old seat on the Chicago City Council. Hutchison had been indicted for taking bribes in a federal sting operation ahead of the election.[3][8] For this campaign, Shaw repositioned himself as a supporter of Harold Washington.[5][8][16] Shaw was reelected in 1991 and 1995.[17][18][19] His 1991 reelection saw him defeat Chicago Transit Authority bus driver Johnny J. O'Neal by a mere 37 votes.[20][21] O'Neal would subsequently, in 1993, attempt to have the legitimacy of the vote count reinvestigated through litigation.[22]

Shaw was a strong advocate in support of pay raises for members of the City Council.[5] Shaw clashed numerous times with civil rights and community leader Jesse Jackson, who called Shaw "a hack".[5] Harold Washington derided Shaw as a "two-bit hustler".[5][16]

In 1987, Shaw introduced legislation to remove the ship from the seal of the City of Chicago, replacing it with a depiction of Jean Baptiste Point du Sable

In September 1987, Shaw and fellow alderman Allan Streeter introduced a bill to remove the image of a sailing ship from the 150-year old city seal, alleging that it represented "official government sanction of slavery". Their legislation would replace the ship on the seal with a depiction of Jean Baptiste Point du Sable.[23] City documents had once described the high-masted sailing ship on the seal as, "emblematic of the approach of white man's civilization and commerce".[24] Shaw declared, 'The ship represents institutionalized racism in this country."[24] He also believed that it bore a resemblance to slave ships.[24] Mayor Washington and a group of other black aldermen joined in support.[24] Washington declared, speaking on the issue with the seal, "It's old, it's degrading, and it has historical baggage."[24] It would have cost more than $1 million to replace the use of the seal.[24] The push to change the seal received criticism from some City Council members, such as Bernard Stone, who called it, "ridiculous", and Edward M. Burke who called it, "preposterous".[24] The debate was reported to largely fall upon racial lines, with black aldermen supporting the change and white alderman standing against it.[24] The seal, ultimately, remained unchanged. In September of 1987, Shaw also introduced a proposed ordinance that would require the Chicago Transit Authority to open its bathrooms.[12] After Washington's death in office, Shaw joined Edward M. Burke in stopping Timothy C. Evans' bid to be appointed his mayoral successor.[5] Eugene Sawyer instead won the vote to be Washington's successor.[25] He also called for a more thorough investigation into Washington's cause of death.[26]

In 1988, Shaw was criticized for questioning witnesses at City Council hearings about their ethnic backgrounds, and was also accused of having made antisemetic remarks about "Washington Jews". In regards to the allegations of antisemetism, Shaw, who had received his political training from Jewish political operatives in the 24th Ward, defended himself by writing, "I have enjoyed a long and happy relationship with the Jewish community," and that, "my many Jewish friends and I am personally hurt," by the accusations of antisemtism.[3][27] In 1988, Shaw opposed a measure that would aim to stop the use of racial, ethnic, and sexual insults at committee hearings. He argued that it would infringe on the right of the council to, "protect the public interest."[28]

During the mayoralty of Richard M. Daley, Shaw was a somewhat independent member of the council, giving criticism to the mayor and casting votes in opposition to his budgets.[3] In 1989, he opposed legislation championed by Daley to create a watchdog to oversee all of city government. The ordinance later passed, but with revisions that made alderman exempted from the new inspector general's oversight.[29][30]

In 1990, Shaw proposed an ordinance to ban an AIDS awareness advertisement campaign that had seen posters placed on city transit that included same-sex couples kissing, claiming that the posters were, "promoting a lifestyle, which I object to."[31] In January of 1993 Shaw, joined by Dorothy Tillman, offered half-serious criticisms of former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka after Edward M. Burke proposed naming the 7th anniversary of the Bears' Super Bowl XX victory "Mike Ditka Day" in Chicago.[32] In 1993, Shaw opposed Daley's nomination of Thomas Scorza to be appointed Chicago city clerk. Shaw opposed him due to testimony about improprieties in Scorza's office during his tenure as assistant U.S. Attorney.[33] Shaw raised further allegations, without providing any evidence publicly. [34]

In 1996, as part of Operation Silver Shovel, the U.S. attorney's office subpoenaed financial records from Shaw's campaign and ward funds, as well as telephone records. Before this, federal agents had unsuccessfully sought to interview Shaw.[35]

After resigning to serve on the Cook County Board of Commissioners, he backed the candidacy of his son Herbert Shaw in the 1999 election to succeed him. However, Anthony Beale, backed by Jesse Jackson Jr. and James Meeks, defeated him in an upset.[9][36]

In 1984, Shaw was one four individuals who challenged incumbent U.S. congressman Gus Savage in the Democratic primary for Illinois's 2nd congressional district. Other challengers included state senators Glenn Dawson and James C. Taylor.[51] Savage won renomination, with Shaw placing fourth.[52]

In October 2004, Shaw announced that he would be challenging incumbent village president (mayor) Don DeGraff in the April 2005 South Holland, Illinois election.[40] Shaw was defeated in an immense landslide, with DeGraff receiving 91% of the vote, to Shaw's 6%.[53]

In 2006, Shaw ran for the Democratic nomination for the 29th district seat in the Illinois House of Representatives, seeking to unseat incumbent David E. Miller.[54] He was unsuccessful, losing to Miller by 70.88% to 29.12%.[55]

Shaw ran for Cook County Assessor in 2010.[37] If elected, he would have been the first African American holder of the office.[37] In January 2010, the Chicago Reader reported that Shaw's campaign lacked not only a website, but also lacked a campaign office and phone number.[56] Shaw placed second out of three candidates in the Democratic primary, with 34.09% of the vote, with the winner of the primary, Joseph Berrios, receiving 39.14% of the vote.[57] Shaw had placed first in 19 of the 20 wards in Chicago with significant black populations.[58]

In December 2013, Shaw moved from South Holland, Illinois, where he had lived since 1999, to the Hyde Park–Kenwood area of Chicago.[16][41] In March 2014, Shaw announced he would run in the 2015 Chicago mayoral election. He was the first noteworthy politician to announce that they would be challenging incumbent mayor Rahm Emanuel, and second challenger to announce after Amara Enyia. However, he ultimately withdrew his candidacy.[8][16][15][41][59][60][61][62][63]

In the previous, 2011, mayoral election, Shaw was an advisor to the campaign of Carol Moseley Braun.[15][41][64] During his candidacy, he took positions, including supporting a move back to having an elected school board.[43] He criticized Emanuel for public school closures.[16][15][64] He also voiced concern of the city's ability to fund pension programs for municipal employees.[15][64]

He described his campaign strategy as aiming to bring together a coalition of African Americans, latinos, and others displeased with the policies of the incumbent mayor.[8] He stated he believed that he had strength as a contender, saying that he believed he had strong name recognition.[8] During his candidacy, an early July 2014 poll taken by We Ask America showed that, in a head-to-head matchup, incumbent mayor Rahm Emanuel led him 47.7% to 29.6%, with 22.8% of voters being undecided.[65] Shaw's campaign had very low funds.[66]

After dropping out, Shaw endorsed Willie Wilson in the election.[67][68] Shaw would go on to again support Wilson in his 2019 mayoral campaign as well, taking part in his March 2018 campaign announcement.[69]

Shaw was a candidate in 2016 in the Democratic primary for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago board. He withdrew his candidacy before the election, however.[70]

He declared again to run in 2018.[2][71] He was ultimately disqualified from appearing on the ballot in 2018.[72]

1998

2002

2004