Mayor Harold Washington appeared to fall short of his announced goal of gaining control of the Chicago City Council in Tuesday`s special aldermanic elections, with opposing forces leading in four of the seven contests.
Two incumbent white aldermen in wards with majority black populations apparently held off challenges by large fields of candidates.
Washington`s strongest showing in early returns came in the 22d Ward on the Southwest Side, where Jesus Garcia, the incumbent Democratic ward committeeman and a deputy commissioner in the city Water Department, held a commanding lead over Guadalupe Martinez, the handpicked candidate of the regular Democratic organization, and Fred Yanez, a Little Village community businessman who called himself the independent candidate.
Martinez was chosen by the organization to fill the position vacated by Ald. Frank Stemberk, who chose to seek a seat on the Cook County Board.
Ald. Frank Brady, a stalwart in the council majority aligned with Ald. Edward Vrdolyak (10th), apparently held off a field of six challengers in the Southwest Side 15th Ward but appeared headed to a runoff election to hold his seat.
In the neighboring 18th Ward, which has a majority black population but a majority white voting population, Ald. Robert Kellam held off seven challengers.
More Top Picks Pizza Stone
State Rep. Juan Soliz (D., Chicago), who has exhibited almost cult-like popularity in his primarily Mexican community in the past, apparently won an easy victory over three candidates in the 25th Ward, including one who received strong support from the mayor.
Soliz, in early returns, was receiving about 60 percent of the vote. Splitting the rest were Juan Velazquez, a deputy commissioner in the Department of Streets and Sanitation who was endorsed by the mayor; Virginia Martinez, a former legal counsel for the Latino Institute; and Philip Coronado, a community activist.
As expected, incumbent Ald. Miguel Santiago, from the overwhelmingly Puerto Rican community in the city`s 31st Ward, won re-election handily over Migdalia Collazo, a community activist who was supported by Washington; and Benjamin Rosado, a longtime employee in the city Department of Streets and Sanitation, who ran as an independent candidate with ties to Washington.
Washington had virtually conceded the election of Santiago, the only current Hispanic council member, who has been a consistent member of Vrdolyak`s anti-administration camp.
In the West Side 37th Ward, where the court-ordered reapportioned map made the ward predominantly black, the mayor`s choice for alderman, Percy Giles, was the leading vote-getter in a field of 10 candidates, but he seemed to be heading for a runoff election on April 29.
Under state law, in aldermanic elections a candidate must receive 50 percent of the vote plus one to be declared the winner. If a candidate does not win a majority of the votes cast, the two top vote-getters must face each other in a runoff election.
In the 37th Ward, Giles` closest challenger was Raymond Myles, chosen by the ward Democratic organization to replace Ald. Frank Damato, who also was seeking a Cook County Board seat. However, Myles was a distant second.
In the most hotly contested race in the seven special aldermanic elections in the Near Northwest Side 26th Ward, the election was too close to call in early returns.
The race between Manuel Torres, the regular Democratic organization candidate who stepped down from the Cook County Board to make the aldermanic race, and Luis Gutierrez, the Washington-endorsed former assistant general superintendent of the Department of Streets of Sanitation, went down to the wire.
The campaign was marked with charges of gang involvement, bombing terrorism and an alleged gunshot attack on Torres by a street gang member.
Early returns showed the two candidates neck and neck with only a small number of returns in.
There was no chance of a runoff in the 26th Ward, where there were only two candidates officially on the battle.
The aldermanic races Tuesday had been widely billed as a pivotal point in the Washington administration, because a pick-up of just four of the seven aldermanic seats could have changed the city council makeup to a 25-25 split, giving Washington a key tie-breaking vote.
Early returns indicated, however, that the mayor had fallen far short of that goal.
The special elections were ordered by U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle late last year, after it was determined that the seven wards had been gerrymandered in the last reapportionment by the city council to dilute the voting strength of Hispanics and blacks.
The Vrdolyak 29 bloc had expressed doubts that the judge would order special elections before the regular municipal elections in February, 1987, but Norgle surprised them with his order of the March 18 special elections.
Also surprised were several of the potential candidates. While welcoming the chance to participate in a special election, they complained that the timetable gave them little time to collect signatures on their petitions, raise funds and wage effective campaigns.
As a result, many of the 50 candidates who originally met the petition filing deadline were stricken from the ballot because of faulty petitions.
Many also indicated that they would run again in the regular elections less than a year from now.
The tight deadlines and the lack of political experience of many of the candidates also were reflected in the Democratic ward committeeman races. Because of challenges and the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners rulings, three old-time ward bosses ended up unopposed in the special elections.
They were Edward Nedza, whose 31st Ward had become primarily Hispanic;
Frank Savickas, whose 15th Ward had become predominantly black; and John P. Daley, whose 18th Ward saw a population shift to a slightly black majority.
The mayor was criticized by some supporters early in the campaign for not making quick and strong endorsements. But by the last two weeks of the campaign, he had endorsed candidates in all seven wards, predicted victory in at least five of them and had actively campaigned for his choices.
More Top Picks Best Smart Projectors For Streaming
Vrdolyak was less vocal in his support. He worked behind the scenes for the candidates of his political faction, hoping to retain control of the city council, even if the margin slipped.
Unlike Washington, Vrdolyak was unwilling to make predictions about the ward races, choosing instead to tout the victories of county and state candidates who ran on the Democratic ticket.
Aldermanic elections are nonpartisan, and candidates do not run with party labels. In fact, however, candidates generally identify themselves with political factions. In Tuesday`s races, each of the seven wards had candidates clearly representing the Washington and Vrdolyak forces in the city government.