POLITICS ’88 : Ex-Chicago Mayor Byrne Fails in Political Comeback

Former Chicago Mayor Jane M. Byrne’s bid for a political comeback ended in defeat in Illinois’ primary election Tuesday, but House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel, President Reagan’s point man in Congress, easily overcame his first GOP challenge in 32 years.

Michel’s victory could set the stage for a November rematch of the 1982 contest that almost cost him his 18th District seat.

Partial returns gave Michel 89% of the vote over Tazewell County Board Chairman James E. Unsicker. His Democratic arch-foe, attorney G. Douglas Stephens, also led handily in early, inconclusive returns against a little-known challenger, Justin Z. West.

In another local issue that attracted widespread interest, voters in 21 precincts around Chicago’s Wrigley Field appeared to be rejecting a proposal to permit night games at the Cubs’ vintage ballpark in a non-binding referendum.

With four of the 21 precincts reporting, nearly 75% of the votes cast were in favor of restricting the Chicago Cubs to playing day games only.

The Chicago City Council in February approved lights at Wrigley Field, the only major league ballpark without them, after years of controversy. The issue pitted neighborhood groups concerned about noise, litter and parking problems against the Cubs’ owners, Tribune Co., which argued the team was losing prime-time television revenues.

Byrne lost to Aurelia Pucinski in a race for the Democratic nomination for clerk of the circuit court.

“It means that when the people spoke, they apparently shouted. . . . I am very good at taking hints,” Byrne said. Asked whether she would consider running for office again, she said: “I’m not even thinking of it right now.”

Edward Vrdolyak, former Democratic power broker who left the party, was unopposed on the Republican side and will face Pucinski in November.

Also back on the Illinois ballot were followers of political extremist Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr. At least 20 LaRouche followers were candidates in races ranging from President to county register of deeds.

The latest bid for office by Byrne, who lost the mayor’s office to Harold Washington in 1983 after one term, was made without the backing of the party, which supported her opponent, Pucinski. Vrdolyak became a Republican after a failed third-party challenge.