1943 Chicago mayoral election

1943 Chicago mayoral election

April 6, 1943

Nominee Edward J. Kelly George B. McKibbin Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 685,567 571,547 Percentage 54.54% 45.47%

Mayor before election Edward J. Kelly Democratic Elected Mayor Edward J. Kelly Democratic

The Chicago mayoral election of 1943 was held on April 6, 1943. The election saw incumbent Edward J. Kelly being reelected to a third term, defeating Republican nominee George B. McKibbin with a 9% margin of victory. Both nominees had received landslide victories in their party's primary elections.

The election was preceded by primary elections held on February 22, 1943, to determine the nominees of both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.

Democratic primary

On January 13, Kelly officially confirmed that he would seek re-electioon.^[1]

Reform-oriented Democrats supported a challenge by alderman John S. Boyle to incumbent mayor Edward J. Kelly.^[2] This challenge failed to amount to much, with Kelly easily defeating Boyle.

Chicago Democratic mayoral primary (February 23, 1943)^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward J. Kelly (incumbent)	438,546	79.00
	Democratic	John S. Boyle	82,836	14.92
	Democratic	Billy Patts	33,722	6.08
Turnout			555,104

Republican primary

Candidates

Ran

• George B. McKibbin, former Illinois director of finance^[1]
• Arthur F. Albert, former alderman on the Chicago City Council^[4]
• John Homer Lyle, former judge on the Municipal Court of Chicago^[4]

Withdrew

• Roger Faherty^[1]

Summary

Originally, Roger Faherty (a conservative Republican) was seeking the nomination.^[5][1] The Cook County Republican Party had initially endorsed Faherty for the nomination.^[1] However, Faherty lost their confidence by demonstrating himself to be a poor campaigner.^[6] In January, leaders of the Illinois Republican Party and Cook County Republican Party persuaded McKibbin to run and Faherty to drop out of the race and support McKibbin. McKibbin's entry into the race and Faherty's intent to withdraw in support of McKibbin was announced on January 12.^[1]

McKibbin won the Republican nomination by a landslide margin.

Results

Chicago Republican mayoral primary (February 23, 1943)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	George B. McKibbin	318,166	76.27
	Republican	Arthur F. Albert	80,868	19.39
	Republican	John Homer Lyle	18,136	4.35
Turnout			417,170

General election

Like other Republicans that had run against Kelly, McKibbin framed his campaign as a crusade against machine politics.^[2] McKibbin declared,

Pendergast is out in K.C., Hague in Jersey, and Tammany in New York have been cleaned out. Now it is time to clean out the Kelly-Nash machine.^[2]

McKibbin also attacked links between the political machine and criminal activity. Kelly did not actively campaign. Confident in his chances of victory, Kelly flaunted heavy gravitas and balked at the thought of campaigning.^[2]

Results

Voter turnout was considered to be very light.^[2] Kelly won what was considered to be a very solid victory.^[2]

Mayor of Chicago 1943 election^[8] (General Election)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward J. Kelly (incumbent)	685,567	54.54
	Republican	George B. McKibbin	571,547	45.47
Turnout			1,257,114

References

1. "Leaves State Job". The Rock Island Argus. The Associated Press. January 13, 1943. Retrieved December 21, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
2. The Mayors: The Chicago Political Tradition, fourth edition by Paul M. Green, Melvin G. Holli SIU Press, Jan 10, 2013
3. "RaceID=609082". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
4. "Kelly Nominated for Another Term". Chattanooga Daily Times. The Associated Press. February 24, 1923. Retrieved December 21, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Roger Faherty Papers, 1940-1965". digicoll.library.wisc.edu. Archival Resources in Wisconsin: Descriptive Finding Aids: Biography/History. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
6. "U.S. At War: Gone Again Faherty". Time. January 25, 1943. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
7. "RaceID=609083". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
8. "Board of Election Commissioners For the City of Chicago Mayoral Election Results Since 1900 General Elections Only". Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. July 18, 2004. Archived from the original on July 18, 2004. Retrieved March 26, 2023.