Daley Trounces Primary Foes, May Revive Dynasty

Incumbent Richard M. Daley swamped the opposition in the Democratic mayoral primary here Tuesday, bringing him within an eyelash of resurrecting the legendary City Hall dynasty established by his father 36 years ago.

In trouncing two well-known rivals, including the standard-bearer of a broad coalition of black political and community activists, the Irish-American Daley may also have quelled years of ugly, racially tinged battles for control of the nation’s third-largest city.

However, to capture his first full four-year term in office, Daley, 48, still must beat a token Republican contender in an April 2 general election. And black leaders may make a last-ditch stand against Daley in April by backing yet another challenger under a third party named for Harold Washington, the city’s first black mayor, who died in office in 1987.

Traditionally, whoever wins the Democratic primary is a virtual shoo-in to take the general election. No non-Democrat has been elected mayor here since 1927.

With 88% of the city’s 2,900 precincts reporting, Daley had tallied a whopping 65% of the vote. Cook County Commissioner Danny K. Davis, the black coalition candidate, had a mere 29%. Trailing far behind, with 6%, was former Mayor Jane M. Byrne, who has failed in several comeback bids since losing her job to Washington in 1984.

The Chicago Board of Elections said voter turnout fell to 48%, perhaps the lowest in six decades. It was especially low in black neighborhoods, a sign that Davis had failed to enthuse his key constituent base.

Daley asserted that his resounding win had put an end to the bitter racial feuds that had long marred politics in this highly segregated city. “We have proven we can have an election in Chicago without tearing this city apart,” he told cheering supporters at a victory rally.

With black and white candidates sometimes making blatant appeals to racial fears, Chicago mayoral contests in recent years have had all the decorum of a mud-wrestling match. By comparison, the latest face-off seemed downright sedate, in part because voter attention was riveted on the Mideast, Davis and Byrne could muster only a fraction of Daley’s $3.5-million campaign chest and Daley’s “feel-good” campaign strategy was designed to avoid controversy at all costs.

A stumbling public speaker prone to a nervous, high-pitched giggle, Daley shunned debates and limited his public appearances to carefully stage-managed events.

The eldest son of the late Democratic machine boss Richard J. Daley, Richard M. Daley served as Cook County state’s attorney for several years until he won a special 1989 election to fill the last half of Washington’s term.

Many political experts here think a solid reelection victory could totally demoralize Daley’s opposition and render him as invincible as his father, who prevailed in six lopsided mayoral elections between 1955 and his death in 1976.