Daley May Eclipse Dad as Chicago's Biggest Boss With Sixth Term

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley has more at stake in tomorrow's election than winning his sixth straight term. A victory would clear the way for breaking his father's record as the city's longest-serving mayor.

``Both Daleys did a very good job of figuring out who their challengers are and figuring out how to work with them,'' said Sarah Marcus, an historian at the Chicago History Museum. The practice has made it ``awfully hard to challenge them.''

The mayor's father, Richard J. Daley, was elected six times. He served from April 1955 until dying in office in December 1976 at age 74, after a span of 21 years and 246 days. Richard M. Daley, who won 79 percent of the vote four years ago, will surpass that tenure if he serves until late 2010.

Daley, like his father a Democrat, is reaping the benefits of building coalitions, embracing challengers, boosting development and seizing remnants of support for the senior Daley, political analysts said. That's insulating him from fallout over a federal investigation into hiring and awarding of truck contracts.

Another technique Daley is using this year is rallying the city behind a major project, a bid for the 2016 Olympics. The effort builds on his development of the $475 million Millennium Park arts and entertainment complex that opened in July 2004 and a $7.5 billion expansion at O'Hare International Airport to handle a 60 percent increase in flights by 2013.

Two Challengers

Daley, 64, faces two fellow Democrats in the nonpartisan municipal election: Dorothy Brown, 52, the two-term incumbent clerk of Cook County, which encompasses Chicago, and Bill Walls, 49, an attorney and national political director for the Chicago- based civil rights organization Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. They complain that Daley has avoided debates to keep a low profile. His campaign didn't respond to calls seeking comment.

Daley has had his share of negative publicity this term. Chicago City Clerk James Laski was indicted in the investigation into illegal hiring practices and payoffs for trucking contracts. He pleaded guilty to one bribery count and received a two-year sentence.

A U.S. federal court jury last year convicted Daley aide Robert Sorich on charges stemming from corrupt hiring practices, and he will serve more than three years in prison.

Laski and Sorich were among more than 40 people indicted in the city patronage investigation from January 2004 through December 2006. All but six have pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial. Daley hasn't been charged and has denied knowledge of any wrongdoing.

`Cynical' Electorate

Even with the investigation, Daley is in solid political shape for the final campaigning, said James Grossman, one of three editors of the Encyclopedia of Chicago (University of Chicago Press, 2004, $65).

``To some extent, traditions of Chicago political culture might make Chicagoans more cynical, more likely to shrug something off,'' Grossman said.

Each Daley proved deft at using the political structure of his era, Marcus said. The elder Daley worked the city's ward leaders and Cook County's Democratic Party power structure in a tenure that weathered national embarrassment, such as the beating of demonstrators by Chicago police at the 1968 Democratic Party convention, and success like the Sears Tower, opened in 1974 and still the tallest building in North America.

The current mayor has built his power base through community groups such as the Hispanic Democratic Organization and by reaching out to black voters and political leaders like former Cook County Board Chairman John Stroger.

Staying in Congress

In part because of those efforts, Representatives Luis Gutierrez and Jesse Jackson Jr., ``two daunting opponents,'' decided not to run, Marcus said. Jackson and Gutierrez, both Chicago Democrats, said they preferred serving in Congress with a Democratic majority to running for mayor this year.

Daley's opponents complain that he is unwilling to take part in a debate.

``You can't tell if a person has honor unless you can look him in the eye,'' said Brown, an attorney and certified public accountant. Daley's refusal to debate shows ``arrogance and disrespect for the electorate,'' said Brown, who would like to confront Daley over the patronage investigation.

Walls said he would focus on the mayor's failure to redevelop the city's south and west sides and cost overruns on Millennium Park and the O'Hare expansion.

``Daley does badly in debates,'' said Dick Simpson, a former alderman on Chicago's north side and Brown supporter who teaches political science at the University of Illinois.

Walls and Brown maintain that they can win. Simpson and Larry Bennett, who teaches political science at Chicago's DePaul University, predict easy re-election for Daley.

Low Turnout Forecast

``Daley is an admired mayor, not necessarily a beloved mayor,'' Bennett said. ``He'll get a large percentage of the vote. We'll also see most Chicagoans won't come out to vote.''

Bennett predicts voter participation of about 25 percent, compared with 34 percent in 2003 and 42 percent in 1999.

Daley supporters may see low turnout as a sign of satisfaction, Grossman said.

``It's safe to say he has restored and even created a substantial level of political stability and harmony in city government,'' he said. ``That's important. Whether you think it's good or bad, it's important.''

source:www.bloomberg.com