2003 Chicago mayoral election

The Chicago mayoral election of 2003 saw incumbent Mayor Richard M. Daley easily reelected against small and divided opposition, resulting in his best electoral showing of his career, winning by a landslide 64 point margin.

2003 Chicago mayoral election

← 1999 February 25, 2003 2007 →
Turnout	32.26%^[1]^[2] 9.64 pp
Candidate Richard M. Daley Paul Jakes Patricia McAllister Popular vote 363,553 64,941 27,350 Percentage 78.46% 14.02% 5.90%
Results by ward: Daley:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Mayor before election Richard M. Daley Elected Mayor Richard M. Daley

By winning his fifth mayoral election, Daley tied Carter Harrison Sr. and Carter Harrison Jr. for the second-most mayoral election victories in Chicago history. Daley would subsequently win an additional mayoral election in 2007, thereby surpassing both Harrisons and tying his own father's record for the most mayoral election victories.

Campaign

On December 9, 2002, a spokesperson for Daley confirmed that Daley would be announcing his candidacy for reelection.^[3] Daley's candidacy was widely anticipated.^[3] A popular incumbent, Daley had won strong victories in the preceding four consecutive mayoral elections.^[3]

All three of Daley's opponents were African Americans.^[4][5][6][7] Both Jakes,^[6] and McAfee^[7] were clergy. McAllister was a businesswoman.^[5]

Also briefly challenging Daley, but withdrawing from the race, had been James Meeks.^[8]

All of Daley's opponents on the ballot had little electoral experience.^[4] They struggled in fundraising and failed to receive backing from black leaders.^[4] They also lacked name recognition.^[4][3] Their prospects of unseating Daley were seen as dim.^[5]

While the election was nonpartisan, all candidates running were Democrats.^[9]

As was the case in all of his reelection campaigns, Daley did not attend any debates.^[10]

Endorsements

Results

The election saw what was, up to that point, the lowest turnout in Chicago mayoral election history.^[4] Daley won a majority of the vote in each of the city's 50 wards.^[1]

Mayor of Chicago 2003^[1][2] (General Election)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Richard M. Daley (incumbent)	363,553	78.46
	Nonpartisan	Paul L. Jakes Jr.	64,941	14.02
	Nonpartisan	Patricia McAllister	27,350	5.90
	Nonpartisan	Joseph McAfee	7,488	1.62
	Write-in	Johnnie H. Barnes	2	0.00
	Write-in	Joel W. Britton	1	0.00
Turnout			463,335

Results by ward

Ward^[1]	Daley		Jakes		McAfee		McAllister		Total	Turnout %
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
1	5,892	84.49%	501	7.18%	119	1.71%	462	6.62%	6,974	26.93%
2	5,632	70.05%	1,745	21.70%	125	1.55%	538	6.69%	8,040	28.78%
3	4,930	61.97%	2,163	27.19%	183	2.30%	680	8.55%	7,956	32.67%
4	6,153	62.21%	2,688	27.18%	194	1.96%	856	8.65%	9,891	35.54%
5	5,693	62.54%	2,445	26.86%	198	2.18%	767	8.43%	9,103	31.79%
6	7,457	58.08%	4,008	31.21%	294	2.29%	1,081	8.42%	12,840	34.70%
7	5,610	61.39%	2,547	27.87%	234	2.56%	748	8.18%	9,139	28.26%
8	8,484	61.34%	3,816	27.59%	390	2.82%	1,142	8.26%	13,832	35.80%
9	6,012	61.13%	2,781	28.28%	221	2.25%	820	8.34%	9,834	27.94%
10	6,867	89.86%	412	5.39%	92	1.20%	271	3.55%	7,642	28.43%
11	12,129	95.90%	207	1.64%	79	0.62%	233	1.84%	12,648	57.78%
12	4,405	92.85%	123	2.59%	49	1.03%	167	3.52%	4,744	39.60%
13	12,168	94.26%	291	2.25%	105	0.81%	345	2.67%	12,909	54.22%
14	5,455	95.22%	101	1.76%	37	0.65%	136	2.37%	5,729	44.55%
15	4,125	66.23%	1,492	23.96%	101	1.62%	510	8.19%	6,228	23.81%
16	3,868	66.10%	1,371	23.43%	130	2.22%	483	8.25%	5,852	24.64%
17	5,847	62.39%	2,573	27.45%	192	2.05%	760	8.11%	9,372	28.14%
18	10,018	72.75%	2,717	19.73%	179	1.30%	857	6.22%	13,771	39.95%
19	16,882	83.86%	1,704	8.46%	383	1.90%	1,161	5.77%	20,130	56.35%
20	4,290	62.23%	1,855	26.91%	180	2.61%	569	8.25%	6,894	28.90%
21	8,391	59.35%	4,371	30.92%	270	1.91%	1,105	7.82%	14,137	33.56%
22	3,043	84.69%	281	7.82%	47	1.31%	222	6.18%	3,593	24.24%
23	13,925	91.52%	526	3.46%	190	1.25%	575	3.78%	15,216	51.65%
24	5,151	59.04%	2,695	30.89%	173	1.98%	705	8.08%	8,724	26.97%
25	6,353	86.51%	472	6.43%	110	1.50%	409	5.57%	7,344	39.12%
26	4,959	83.51%	499	8.40%	100	1.68%	380	6.40%	5,938	27.03%
27	5,307	71.06%	1,548	20.73%	118	1.58%	495	6.63%	7,468	26.03%
28	4,380	60.57%	2,156	29.82%	131	1.81%	564	7.80%	7,231	23.21%
29	7,735	71.67%	2,286	21.18%	119	1.10%	652	6.04%	10,792	37.73%
30	5,450	90.94%	231	3.85%	65	1.08%	247	4.12%	5,993	31.59%
31	4,885	91.84%	166	3.12%	57	1.07%	211	3.97%	5,319	27.18%
32	6,709	88.68%	399	5.27%	105	1.39%	352	4.65%	7,565	23.25%
33	6,218	91.47%	253	3.72%	68	1.00%	259	3.81%	6,798	41.07%
34	7,472	61.44%	3,498	28.76%	267	2.20%	924	7.60%	12,161	30.51%
35	6,723	83.01%	647	7.99%	149	1.84%	580	7.16%	8,099	36.45%
36	9,860	91.02%	439	4.05%	135	1.25%	399	3.68%	10,833	37.39%
37	4,841	63.81%	2,045	26.96%	121	1.60%	579	7.63%	7,586	25.42%
38	8,656	91.56%	321	3.40%	132	1.40%	345	3.65%	9,454	35.07%
39	7,229	91.83%	268	3.40%	91	1.16%	284	3.61%	7,872	33.59%
40	5,831	89.28%	338	5.18%	64	0.98%	298	4.56%	6,531	30.82%
41	12,766	87.55%	688	4.72%	293	2.01%	835	5.73%	14,582	40.50%
42	9,281	90.01%	499	4.84%	119	1.15%	412	4.00%	10,311	30.60%
43	6,062	89.85%	363	5.38%	84	1.24%	238	3.53%	6,747	19.97%
44	8,939	89.26%	457	4.56%	136	1.36%	483	4.82%	10,015	30.47%
45	12,026	90.35%	474	3.56%	207	1.56%	604	4.54%	13,311	44.54%
46	8,804	83.57%	938	8.90%	167	1.59%	626	5.94%	10,535	38.26%
47	10,706	86.46%	757	6.11%	173	1.40%	746	6.02%	12,382	40.22%
48	7,434	85.76%	697	8.04%	103	1.19%	434	5.01%	8,668	32.81%
49	5,275	78.40%	797	11.85%	126	1.87%	530	7.88%	6,728	33.72%
50	7,061	91.89%	280	3.64%	79	1.03%	264	3.44%	7,684	35.41%

References

1. "2003 Municipal General - 2/25/03".
2. "TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE RETURNS AND PROCLAMATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE CANVASS OF THE ELECTION RETURNS FOR THE MUNICIPAL GENERAL ELECTION HELD IN EACH OF THE PRECINCTS IN ALL THE WARDS IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2003 A.D." (PDF). Chicago Board of Elections. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
3. "Chicago's Mayor Plans to Seek Re-election". The New York Times. The Associated Press. December 9, 2002. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
4. Daley: A Retrospective: A Historical Exploration of Former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley by Chicago Tribune Staff Dec 18, 2012
5. Daley Reign Continues In Chicago by Jarrett Murphy (Associated Press) February 26, 2003
6. Jakes, a true believer, stands alone - Chicago Tribune
7. Rev. Moon and the black clergy - Chicago Tribune
8. Felton, Robert (January 10, 2007). "Dorothy Brown reacts to criticism from Meeks". www.austinweeklynews.com. Austin Weekly News. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
9. Morris, Joseph A. (February 23, 2003). "MAYORAL ELECTION". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune.
10. Chicago's Long-Running Daley Show Ken Rudin February 21, 2007