The Nation - News from Jan. 18, 1988

Chicago Mayor Eugene Sawyer, who rose from alderman to the city’s highest office after the death of Harold Washington, announced that he will run in a 1989 election to serve out the last two years of the four-year term. “I’m the mayor, the man in the chair,” Sawyer said. “I’m going to remain the mayor. I’m going to run in 1989.” Sawyer, 54, a black, was appointed acting mayor by the City Council on Dec. 2, a week after Washington, the city’s first black mayor, died of a heart attack. Washington had been reelected in April to a four-year term. Sawyer is expected to be challenged by Alderman Timothy Evans, a black who lost to Sawyer in the council vote. He was Washington’s floor leader in the council and currently chairs the Finance Committee.