Daley’s Old Democratic Machine Is Racially Polarized : GOP Sees Chance to Win Chicago Mayor’s Race

Back when “The Boss” meant Mayor Daley, not Bruce Springsteen, the notion of a Republican mayor’s running this bastion of Democratic machine politics seemed as far-fetched as a cross-town World Series between the hapless Cubs and White Sox.

The Chicago teams are still two of baseball’s perennial doormats, but, a decade to the month after Mayor Richard J. Daley died, his once fine-tuned Democratic organization is a racially polarized mess and Republicans are beginning to smell blood.

Although it remains a long shot, GOP leaders think they have an outside chance in the city elections on April 7 to win their first mayoral race since 1927, when the corpulent and corrupt William H. (Big Bill) Thompson swept to victory by courting Irish votes with a pledge to punch the king of England in the nose.

Bad Old Days

“There really is a potential for a Republican presence that hasn’t been seen here in half a century,” said Paul Green, a political scientist at Governor’s State University in Park Forest South, Ill.

In the bad old days when Republican candidates always got clobbered, party officials had to plead with someone to be the sacrificial lamb. But, for the first time in decades, a serious battle is emerging for the party nomination in the primary next Feb. 24.

The chief contenders are Bernard Epton, who lost a surprisingly close, bitter and racially charged 1983 battle for mayor to Democrat Harold Washington, and Donald Haider, a well-known municipal finance expert and lifelong Democrat recruited by GOP leaders to jump parties and vie for the nomination.

Meanwhile, Democrats have been forced to plug the Republican resurgence into a complex equation of racial and political factors that could affect the outcome of their races. Washington and at least a trio of Democratic rivals--former Mayor Jane M. Byrne, Cook County Assessor Thomas Hynes and Alderman Edward R. Vrdolyak, who organized white ethnic colleagues into an anti-Washington bloc in the City Council--have announced plans to run, but under what label is not entirely clear.

Hynes an Independent

Byrne plans to seek the Democratic primary nomination, while Hynes says he is going to skip the preliminaries and run as an independent in the general election. But Washington and Vrdolyak have refused so far to say which way they will run.

That caginess is part of a deliberate strategy by both men to exploit underlying racial tensions that have dominated city politics for the last four years and will continue to ripple through the election. “Race will be the consuming factor,” predicted Don Rose, a prominent political strategist who has organized previous Washington and Byrne campaigns. “Everybody knows that Mickey Mouse, if they painted his ears white, would get at least 40% of the vote.”

Washington, a black former congressman, has a lock on the city’s black vote. Blacks make up about 44% of registered voters, but it is unclear whether after four years in power they will return to the polls in as large numbers as they did following Washington’s first campaign.

Whites and Asians, who compose about 49% of registered voters, are expected largely to back white candidates as they did in 1983. Latinos, who hold the balance of registrations, are expected to split their votes between Washington and others.

A Three-Way Race

The mayor’s best chance to win is to maneuver challengers into a three-way race that splits the white vote, a strategy that envisions the emergence of a strong Republican and independent challengers in the general election. By the same token, Vrdolyak or any other white candidate would fare better in a head-to-head contest as Washington’s only major opponent. That makes it likely that they might eventually try to cut a deal with Republicans to pare the field of contenders.

Although Washington has filed nominating petitions to run in the Democratic primary and Vrdolyak is expected to follow suit, one of them--probably Vrdolyak--is expected to pull out and run as an independent, a risky ploy since pulling a Democratic lever is almost a reflex to many Chicagoans once they get into a polling booth.

GOP hopes were buoyed by the strong city vote last month for Republican Gov. James R. Thompson and new Cook County Sheriff James O’Grady, the first Republican elected to the patronage-rich post in 16 years. But Democrats still hold an enormous edge in party registrations and any meaningful Republican resurgence in city elections would have to capitalize on racial divisions.

Epton’s Near Miss

After Washington defeated Byrne in the 1983 Democratic primary, he barely beat Epton, an undistinguished state lawmaker initially recruited by Republican leaders as another throwaway candidate. Epton’s near miss last time--he got 48% of the vote to Washington’s 52%--has revived interest in the GOP nomination.

Although Epton, again, is in the race, a blue-ribbon Republican search committee passed him over recently and sanctioned Haider, a Northwestern University management professor, as the party’s preferred candidate. Haider served as Byrne’s budget director and is widely respected as an expert on municipal finance. GOP leaders hope Haider will attract white liberals, who provided the crucial margin of victory for Washington in 1983.

Prominent Republicans are viewing the upturn in party interest with mixed feelings. “For the first time in a long time there’s actually a Republican primary but for all the wrong reasons,” lamented John Hoellen, a former Republican alderman who was trounced by Daley in a 1975 mayor’s race. “The Republican Party is trying to stand ready in the event it becomes a black-white contest.”

GOP Nearly Vanished

Hoellen, 72, watched an already weakened Republican Party almost vanish during the Daley years. When he was first elected an alderman in 1947, Hoellen was one of 17 Republicans on the 50-member City Council. But the city has not had a GOP alderman since 1977. At present only three of the 177 members of the Illinois House and Senate are Chicago Republicans.

“For a Republican to survive in this city over the years he had to be a masochist and usually had to survive by associating with Democratic ward leaders,” said Cook County Republican Chairman Don Totten.

When Hoellen ran for mayor, party organization was so bad that it could raise only $29,000 to bankroll the campaign while Daley, strongly backed by local businessmen, raised more than $1 million. The GOP underdog was reduced largely to campaign stunts.

While Daley was marching triumphantly in the St. Patrick’s Day parade, Hoellen posed with two borrowed snakes on the steps of City Hall to call for the eradication of their cousins inside the building. “This one python wrapped around my arm and my arm turned white while I was trying to hold the microphone,” he recalled with a twinge.

Lacks Patronage Clout

Out of power for decades, the party lacks the patronage clout that Democrats traditionally have used to build an effective grass-roots political base. Any rebuilding scheme would rely largely on persuading disaffected Democrats like Haider to switch sides, according to Totten. “If we’re going to be a majority party or even be competitive we’re going to have to convert Democrats,” he said.

Democratic experts insist, however, that the city is inherently Democratic and any GOP upturn would be short-lived at best. “The Democrats are still the only game in town,” said Rose. “This is where the power rests, this is where the services are rendered. . . . Outside of a half-dozen wards, the Republicans couldn’t organize a card game.”

Any GOP revival plans could be cut short by a Washington victory. Although Washington’s first term in office has been marred by constant jostling with Vrdolyak, Green, the political scientist, said another four years would give the incumbent a chance to squelch his opposition and consolidate his political base.

“This is it,” Green predicted. “If Mayor Washington wins this time, challenges in the future will be probably token.”