April 3, 1883
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| Elections in Illinois |
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The Chicago mayoral election of 1883 was held on Tuesday April 3, saw incumbent Carter Harrison III defeat Republican Eugene Cary by a double-digit margin.[1][2]
By winning the 1883 election, Harrison became the second mayor in Chicago history to be elected to a third term (after only Francis Cornwall Sherman), and the first to be elected to a third consecutive term.
By the day of the election, Harrison was already the second-longest serving mayor in the city's history, and was only roughly a month shy of surpassing Monroe Heath as the longest serving mayor.
Harrison's 15% margin of victory was the greatest in all of his campaigns for mayor.[3]
Harrison's opponent, Eugene Cary, was a past member of the Chicago Common Council. He had also previously been county judge and city attorney in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and had also served as a member of the Tennessee Senate.[4]
Campaign
[edit]A key issue of the election was the "high licenses" for liquor sales in the city.[5] Cary favored the high license.[6]
During the campaign, many reformers, newspapers, and business interests coalesced their support behind a Citizen's Ticket that supported Republican nominee Eugene Cary for mayor.[7]
Results
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Carter H. Harrison III (incumbent) | 41,226 | 57.11 | |
| Republican | Eugene Cary | 30,963 | 42.89 | |
| Turnout | 72,189 | |||
64% of the city's German population voted for Harrison.[5]
Multiple publications indicate a widespread belief existed that Cary had received a majority of votes lawfully cast, but votes from a ballot box in at least one precinct favoring Cary were not included in the count certified by election officials.[9][10]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Mayor Carter Henry Harrison III Biography".
- ↑ Currey, Josiah Seymour (1912). Chicago: Its History and Its Builders, a Century of Marvelous Growth. S. J. Clarke publishing Company. p. 335.
- ↑ Carter Harrison I: Policial Leader (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1928) pg. 288
- ↑ "A brief sketch of the nominee for mayor". Newspapers.com. Chicago Tribune. March 25, 1883. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
- 1 2 Labor and Urban Politics: Class Conflict and the Origins of Modern Liberalism in Chicago, 1864-97 Front Cover Richard Schneirov University of Illinois Press, 1998 (page 166-67)
- ↑ "Mr. Cary Reluctant - He favors High License". Newspapers.com. Chicago Tribune. March 24, 1883. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
- ↑ Grafters and Goo Goos: Corruption and Reform in Chicago by James L. Merriner
- ↑ The Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year Book for 1912. Chicago Daily News, Incorporated. 1911. p. 464. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
- ↑ "Cary, Eugene (1835-1904) · Jane Addams Digital Edition". Digital.JaneAddams.Ramapo.edu. Retrieved March 22, 2026.
- ↑ Raum, Green B. (Green Berry) (1900). History of Illinois Republicanism, embracing a history of the Republican party in the state to the present time ... with biographies of its founders and supporters ... also a chronological statement of important political events since 1774. Chicago, Rollins Pub. Co. p. 388–390. Retrieved March 22, 2026.
