1897 Chicago mayoral election

1897 Chicago mayoral election

← 1895 April 6, 1897 1899 →

Nominee Carter Harrison Jr. John Maynard Harlan Party Democratic Independent Republican Popular vote 148,850 69,730 Percentage 50.23% 23.53%   Nominee Nathaniel C. Sears Washington Hesing Party Republican Independent Democrat Popular vote 59,513 15,427 Percentage 20.08% 5.21%

Mayor before election George Bell Swift Republican Elected mayor Carter Harrison Jr. Democratic

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v t e

In the Chicago mayoral election of 1897, Democratic nominee Carter Harrison Jr. was elected, winning a majority of the vote and defeating independent Republican John Maynard Harlan (an alderman), Republican nominee Nathaniel C. Sears, independent Democrat Washington Hesing (the former Chicago postmaster), as well as several minor candidates. Harrison carried a 26.7 point lead over second-place finisher Harlan, a margin greater than Harlan's vote share itself.

Incumbent Republican mayor George Bell Swift declined to seek reelection.^[1]

Harrison won the Democratic Party's nomination by acclamation at its city nominating convention, being unopposed after opponents for the nomination withdrew their candidacies, including Superior Court of Cook County Judge John Barton Payne and President of the Chicago Board of Education A. S. Trude. Sears secured the Republican Party nomination as a compromise candidate.

The election was held on April 6.^[2][3][4]