1943 Chicago mayoral election

The Chicago mayoral election of 1943 was held on April 6, 1943. The election saw incumbent Edward J. Kelly being reelected to a third term, defeating Republican nominee George McKibbin with a 9% margin of victory. Both nominees had received landslide victories in their party's primary elections.

The election was preceded by primary elections held on February 22, 1943, to determine the nominees of both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.

Nominations

Democratic primary

Reform-oriented Democrats supported a challenge by alderman John S. Boyle to incumbent mayor Edward J. Kelly.^[1] This challenge failed to amount to much, with Kelly easily defeating Boyle.

**Chicago Democratic mayoral primary (February 23, 1943)**^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward J. Kelly (incumbent)	438,546	79.00
	Democratic	John S. Boyle	82,836	14.92
	Democratic	Billy Patts	33,722	6.08
Turnout			555,104

Republican primary

George McKibbin won the Republican nomination by a landslide margin.

**Chicago Republican mayoral primary (February 23, 1943)**^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	George McKibbin	318,166	76.27
	Republican	Arthur F. Albert	80,868	19.39
	Republican	John Homer Lyle	18,136	4.35
Turnout			417,170

General election

Like other Republicans that had run against Kelly, McKibbin framed his campaign as a crusade against machine politics.^[1] McKibbin declared "Pendergast is out in K.C., Hague in Jersey, and Tammany in New York have been cleaned out. Now it is time to clean out the Kelly-Nash machine."^[1] McKibbin also attacked links between the political machine and criminal activity.^[1] Kelly did not campaign. Confident in his chances of victory, Kelly flaunted heavy gravitas and balked at the thought of campaigning.^[1]

Results

Voter turnout was considered to be very light.^[1] Kelly won what was considered to be a very solid victory.^[1]

**Mayor of Chicago** 1943 election^[4] (General Election)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward J. Kelly (incumbent)	685,567	54.54
	Republican	George McKibbin	571,547	45.47
Turnout			1,257,114

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g The Mayors: The Chicago Political Tradition, fourth edition by Paul M. Green, Melvin G. Holli SIU Press, Jan 10, 2013
^ "RaceID=609082". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
^ "RaceID=609083". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
^ "Board of Election Commissioners For the City of Chicago Mayoral Election Results Since 1900 General Elections Only". Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. July 18, 2004. Archived from the original on July 18, 2004. Retrieved March 26, 2023.

[themayors-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g The Mayors: The Chicago Political Tradition, fourth edition by Paul M. Green, Melvin G. Holli SIU Press, Jan 10, 2013

[2] "RaceID=609082". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 4, 2018.

[3] "RaceID=609083". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 4, 2018.

[4] "Board of Election Commissioners For the City of Chicago Mayoral Election Results Since 1900 General Elections Only". Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. July 18, 2004. Archived from the original on July 18, 2004. Retrieved March 26, 2023.

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