1865 Chicago mayoral election

In the Chicago mayoral election of 1865, Republican John Blake Rice defeated Democratic incumbent Francis Cornwall Sherman by a landslide 33% margin of victory.

The election was held on April 18, only four days after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.^[1][2]

Originally, Democrat Leonard Rothgerber had been one of the candidates running.^[2] However, in the aftermath of the assassination of the Republican president, the shaken public had come to coalesce in support of Republican mayoral candidate Rice.^[2] Sensing this, Democratic candidate Leonard Rothgerber withdrew from the race and declared that there was a need for the nation to stand united.^[2][3] As a gesture of gratitude, Rice reimbursed Rothgerber's campaign expenses.^[2]

While he remained on the ballot, Sherman also all-but-withdrew from the race as well in the aftermath of Lincoln's assassination.^[4]

Rice was a "Reform" Republican.^[5]

This was the last of four mayoral elections that Chicago held during the course of the American Civil War.