1995 Chicago mayoral election

1995 Chicago mayoral election

← 1991 April 4, 1995 1999 →
Turnout42.25%[1] Decrease 2.75 pp
 
Candidate Richard M. Daley Roland Burris
Party Democratic Independent
Popular vote 359,466 217,024
Percentage 60.09% 36.28%

Results by ward

Mayor before election

Richard M. Daley
Democratic

Elected Mayor

Richard M. Daley
Democratic

The Chicago mayoral election of 1995 resulted in the re-election of Democratic Party nominee incumbent Richard M. Daley over independent candidate Roland Burris, with 359,466 votes to Burris's 217,024. Daley won 60.1% of the total vote, winning by a landslide 24-point margin. The Republican candidate, Raymond Wardingley, fared poorly with only 2.8% of the vote. A fourth-place candidate, Harold Washington Party nominee Lawrence Redmond, won 0.9% of the votes.[2]

This was the last election for Mayor of Chicago where candidates ran under party labels, as a state law was enacted later in 1995 making all municipal offices in the state non-partisan.[3]

The Democratic Party, Republican Party, and the Harold Washington Party all held primary elections for their nominations. However, only the Democratic Party's primary saw a sizeable number of voters participate. Daley easily defeated Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Commissioner Joseph E. Gardiner by a margin of more that 30 points. Wardingley, a perennial candidate and clown, very narrowly won the Republican nomination among a weak field of contenders. Redmond was unopposed for the Harold Washington Party primary.

  1. ^ Denvir, Daniel (May 22, 2015). "Voter Turnout in U.S. Mayoral Elections Is Pathetic, But It Wasn't Always This Way". Bloomberg. City Lab (The Atlantic). Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  2. ^ "Election Results for 1995 General Election, Mayor, Chicago, Illinois". ChicagoDemocracy.org. Archived from the original on June 28, 2020. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  3. ^ "Our Campaigns - Chicago Mayor Race - Apr 04, 1995". www.OurCampaigns.com. Retrieved February 20, 2019.