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| Turnout | 84%  10pp[1] | ||||||||||||||||
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In the Chicago mayoral election of 1903, Democrat Carter Harrison Jr. was reelected to a fourth term, defeating Republican nominee Graeme Stewart.
The election took place on April 7.[2][3][4] Before the election, both Harrison and Stewart had received their party's nominations by acclamation at each party's municipal nominating convention.
1903 was shaping up to be a challenging reelection for incumbent Democrat Carter Harrison Jr.[5]
By 1903, the municipal reform movement in Chicago, which had been on the rise since the 1890s, had become a strong force in Chicago politics.[5]
By 1903, an anti-Harrison coalition had begun to arise in Chicago, consisting of members of union ( including in the Chicago Federation of Labor), former Harrison ally Robert "Bobby" Burke's followers, and remnants of what had been the once-strong Altgeld wing of the Democratic party.[5]
In 1903, the traction issue was a popular concern, particularly the issue of municipal ownership of streetcars.[5]
Incumbent mayor Carter Harrison Jr. was renominated by the Democratic Party.[5] Few others seemed interested in seeking the nomination.[5]
While there had been factional disputes within the party, most of the Democratic Party united behind Harrison as a nominee. A key exception to this was Harrison's once-ally Robert "Bobby" Burke, who remained opposed to Harrison.[5]
Harrison easily won the primaries to select delegates for the city's nominating convention, with his supporters being heavily selected as delegates.[5] A pro-Harrison delegate nominee even beat former Cook County Democratic Party Chairman Thomas Gahan, who had been seeking to run as a delegate aligned with then-Harrison rival Robert "Bobby" Burke.[5]
Without an opponent, Harrison was renominated at the convention by acclamation.[5] The convention, however, was noted as having been a rather unenthusiastic affair, appearing to signal more tepid or reluctant support of Harrison by his party.[5]
Businessman Greame Stewart won the Republican nomination.[6] He had previously served as a member of the Executive Committee of the 1900 Republican National Convention.[7] From 1882 through 1890 he was a member of the Chicago Board of Education, serving as the board's president from 1889 through 1890.[8]
With an exceptional reputation for honesty and public service, Stewart had long been considered a potential candidate for mayor of Chicago.[5]
In February, Stewart won the a 2-1 margin of victory in the Republican primaries over his most significant opponent, John Maynard Harlan.[5]
At the Republican convention, Stewart was nominated by acclamation.[5]
The United Labor Party first nominated Clarence Darrow, who declined. The party subsequently nominated Daniel L. Cruise.[9]
Beginning at the start of 1903, there was a strong push among members of the Chicago Federation of Labor and others to draft Darrow as an independent candidate for mayor.[5] After an active and organized effort to draft him, which even included a nominating convention-style pro-Darrow mass meeting held at the Auditorium Theatre on February 16, and active consideration of a prospective run on his part, it appeared in late February that Darrow might be preparing to enter the race.[5] However, on February 24, he made the surprise announcement that he would not be running.[5]
The United Labor Party, which had been formed in hopes of nominating Darrow, and had offered him their nomination, moved on after Darrow declined and nominated Daniel L. Cruise.[5][9]
The Prohibition Party nominated Thomas L. Haines.
The Socialist Party nominated Charles L. Breckon.
The Socialist Labor Party nominated Henry Sale.
Both major parties were unified behind their candidates.[5]
The major party candidates not both only resided in the city's twenty-first ward, but each also resided in the exact same voting precinct.[10]
The traction issue became the primary issue of the election.[10] Both candidates supported ultimately supported ultimately having municipal ownership for the streetcar services.[10] Stewart advocated making immediate improvements to its conditions by accepting the best terms the streetcar companies were willing to offer.[10] Harrison advocated holding off on an agreement until the city received the terms it desired.[10]
Harrison worked to paint Stewart as a puppet of corporations and special interests, particularly the streetcar companies.[5]
Republicans worked to paint Harrison as an enabler of corruption.[5] They also worked to paint him as having made few substantive accomplishments in his tenure as mayor, and utilized the slogan "six years, nothing doing" against Harrison.[5]
Stewart's own platform promised reform.[8] In an attempt to make it appear that he was not a product of the political machine, Stewart attempted to convince the electorate that businessmen and not politicians had been the ones who had urged him to run.[8]
Late into the race, Clarence Darrow came forward as a campaign surrogate in support of Harrison, swaying a lot of labor voters in Harrison's favor.[5]
The result was considered to be a close one.[5][9]
While they lost the mayoralty, in the coinciding elections, Republicans were able to win the races for City Attorney and City Clerk (having won the latter race by a mere several hundred vote margin).[5]
In the coinciding Chicago City Council election, Republicans won a weakened majority. The City Council went from having 39 Republicans, 30 Democrats, and one independent before the 1903 election, to having 35 Republicans, 33 Democrats, and one independent afterwards.[10]
Democrat Ernest Hummel also won the coinciding election for City Treasurer.[10]
Stewart had overwhelmingly won the vote in first precinct of the twenty-first ward, where both he and Harrison resided.[10] Harrison had won this precinct in the previous election.[10]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Carter Harrison Jr. | 146,208 | 47.22 | |
| Republican | Graeme Stewart | 138.648 | 44.78 | |
| Socialist | Charles L. Breckon | 11,124 | 3.59 | |
| United Labor | Daniel L. Cruice | 9,947 | 3.21 | |
| Prohibition | Thomas L. Haines | 2,674 | 0.86 | |
| Socialist Labor | Henry Sale | 1,014 | 0.33 | |
| Turnout | 309,615 | 84 | ||
Harrison received 64.38% of the Polish-American vote, while Stewart received 31.51%.[11]
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