Dispute Delays Naming of Victor in Key Chicago Vote

A state appeals court on Tuesday delayed certification of a winner in a hotly contested aldermanic race, where a supporter of Mayor Harold Washington holds a thin margin that likely would hand the mayor control of the City Council for the first time since his 1983 election.

A three-judge panel of the 1st District Appellate Court ordered the Chicago Board of Elections Commissioners to withhold certification for two days in the 26th Ward so the court can rule in a dispute that centers on the closing time of the polls.

Five Results Certified

The court allowed winners to be declared in five special aldermanic elections.

The court’s decision came after an emergency appeal from 26th Ward candidate Manuel Torres, who is supported by the Cook County Regular Democratic Organization. Torres trails Washington-backed candidate Luis Gutierrez by 20 votes out of the more than 10,000 cast in the race.

The winners of five of the seven special aldermanic races in last week’s elections were seated Tuesday in the 50-member council, narrowing the gap between the majority bloc controlled by Washington’s political arch foe, Alderman Edward Vrdolyak, and the mayor’s minority bloc, to 25 to 23.

Washington needed four victories in the seven ward races last Tuesday to gain a 25-25 split in the council, with the mayor casting the tie-breaking vote.

2 Mayor Backers Win

Candidates supported by Washington won two of the races outright, and a third is favored to emerge victorious in an April 29 runoff election. If Gutierrez is seated in the council, the mayor will likely achieve the council deadlock and gain control for the first time.

The legislative battles between those two factions, dubbed “Council Wars,” have raged since Washington was elected the city’s first black mayor. The forces of Vrdolyak, a white alderman, have thwarted many of the mayor’s appointments and programs.