A View from Chicago                                                            

Daley remains modesty yet confident in victory

Election night TV news focused on aldermanic run-offs that in the past might have been scrolled statistics on the screen

By MANUEL GALVAN

The night before Chicago's mayoral election, William Daley introduced the keynote speaker at the International Press Center's annual dinner. Daley, the mayor's brother and the man credited with pushing the North American Free Trade Agreement through Congress, welcomed television personality Bill Kurtis to speak to the audience whose banquet tables filled the magisterial lobby of the Merchandise Mart. Christopher Kennedy, the latest member of his family to run the limestone and terra-cotta trade mecca, sat among the guests.

It was another election season in the Windy City with the Daleys and Kennedys, but no one mentioned the next day's contest. Even in one-on-one, parting conversation. Bill Daley said nothing of his brother's re-election bid. It was not a matter of arrogance, simply the matter-of-fact demeanor Daley might wear as a partner at Mayer, Brown & Platt on the eve of a multimillion dollar, La Salle Street contract.

Less than 24 hours later, Kurds, as senior anchor of WBBM-TV, would wear the same look and broadcast with a smile that Mayor Richard M. Daley was beating his closest challenger, independent candidate Roland Burris, by a nearly 2-1 margin.

Other newscasters would try to find faults in the Daley victory. It was a low turnout and that showed dissatisfaction with Daley. Burris never had "the fire in his belly" needed to win. If someone came along to rally non-voters, like the late Mayor Harold Washington, Daley could lose. But in the end, the election was over and Daley had renewed the lease on his fifth floor, City Hall office.

To fill time, election night news coverage focused on aldermanic run-offs that in the past might only have been a scrolled statistic on the TV screen. Aid. Dorothy Tillman (3rd) kept her seat in the Chicago City Council against challenger Wallace "Gator" Bradley, a former gang enforcer, for control of the South Side ward. In the rough and tumble West Side 27th Ward, Walter Bumett Jr., a convicted bank robber, beat Wallace Davis Ill, whose father Wallace Davis Jr. served as alderman until he became a convicted felon. Vilma Colom, victorious in the Northwest Side 35th Ward, would become the first female Hispanic to serve in the City Council.

The major speeches of victory and defeat came early. There were no upsets or surprises

The major speeches of victory and defeat came early. Daley pledged to accept the vote "as a challenge to continue to work hard each day to make Chicago better and stronger, and to do it by reaching out to all its people." Burris kidded that he was going to look for work the next day. Raymond Wardingley, the Republican candidate who received 3 percent of the vote, said he had already won because he proved that "the little guy" could run for public office. Lawrence Redmond, the latest nominee of the Harold Washington Party, received around 1 percent and was generally ignored by the press.

There were no upsets and no surprises. Daley steamrolled Burris in the non-minority and Hispanic wards, and held his own in the African-American wards. Daley, who received 61 percent of the city's vote, scored 88 percent in 24 non-minority wards. His biggest margin was in the Southwest Side 13th Ward, where bungalow residents gave the mayor 96 percent. Daley's vote total from the seven Hispanic wards was 84 percent. His largest victory — 94 percent — came from Mexican-Americans in the South-west Side 12th Ward. Among African-American voters in 19 wards, Burris received 78 percent of the vote. The former Illinois attorney general's best showing of 85 percent came in his own South Side 6th Ward.

Just as their vote totals varied, so had their campaign styles. Burris looked for

34/May 1995/Illinois Issues

When Richard J. Daley escorted John F. Kennedy around Chicago, both wore a look of conviction

conspiracies that came off sounding like publicity ploys. Wardingley did media interviews. Redmond was barely visible. A similarity among the challengers was that they couldn't afford commercials. By contrast, Daley filled the airwaves with campaign spots showing him very much the mayor, concerned about the citizens of Chicago, especially on the issue of crime. On the campaign trail, he also carried himself like a man in charge. Sometimes his face was intense as he expressed concern over an issue like housing or police promotions. Sometimes he chuckled with a supporter at a fund-raiser. But always, he looked self-assured.

It was a visage that the Kennedys have been known for, as was Daley's dad, the late Mayor Richard J. Daley. When Daley escorted John F. Kennedy around Chicago for a presidential campaign stop in 1960, photographs showed both Irish-Catholic politicians with a look of conviction. The current Mayor Daley has made that air of confidence part of his persona.

The fact that Daley would win re-election had been a given, even before the primary race. But instead of emphasizing the campaign, he focused on leading the city and talking about the issues that mattered to Chicago residents. On election night, that image didn't change. "To those who didn't support me, let me say that no one recognizes more than me the work that lies ahead," he said in an unassuming delivery. "I'm not satisfied and I'm not done."

Opponents will continue to have a hard time rallying people against a confident, yet modest Daley. Ironically, Daley has come to exemplify a favorite response of his dad's to a question about the outcome of an election. "When you lose, you lose with courage," the senior Daley used to say. "When you win, you win with humility." *

Manuel Galvan is a Chicago writer and marketing consultant.