1883 Chicago mayoral election
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The Chicago mayoral election of 1883 was held on Tuesday April 3, saw incumbent Carter Harrison III defeat Republican Eugene Cary by a double-digit margin.[1][2]
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April 3, 1883
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By winning the 1883 election, Harrison became the second mayor in Chicago history to be elected to a third term (after only Francis Cornwall Sherman), and the first to be elected to a third consecutive term.
By the day of the election, Harrison was already the second-longest serving mayor in the city's history, and was only roughly a month shy of surpassing Monroe Heath as the longest serving mayor.
Harrison's 15% margin of victory was the greatest in all of his campaigns for mayor.[3]
Harrison's opponent, Eugene Cary, was a past member of the Chicago Common Council. He had also previously been county judge and city attorney in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and had also served as a member of the Tennessee Senate.[4]
Campaign
A key issue of the election was the "high licenses" for liquor sales in the city.[5] Cary favored the high license.[6]
During the campaign, many reformers, newspapers, and business interests coalesced their support behind a Citizen's Ticket that supported Republican nominee Eugene Cary for mayor.[7]
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Carter H. Harrison III (incumbent) | 41,226 | 57.11 | |
| Republican | Eugene Cary | 30,963 | 42.89 | |
| Turnout | 72,189 | |||
64% of the city's German population voted for Harrison.[5]
Multiple publications indicate a widespread belief existed that Cary had received a majority of votes lawfully cast, but votes from a ballot box in at least one precinct favoring Cary were not included in the count certified by election officials.[9][10]