Chicagah ain't ready for reform

43rd Ward Machine Alderman Paddy Bauler, who was once quoted as saying “Chicagah ain’t ready for Reform” (he actually said, “Chicagah ain’t ready for a Reform Mayor”), was barely re-elected in 1963.

The city had conducted massive redevelopment in his Lincoln Park neighborhood to upgrade the community and make it more attractive to White taxpayers who, it feared, wanted to relocate to the suburbs. But that had drained the ward of reliable Machine voters and replaced them with young Independents who had begun moving into the area.

Four years later, with his organization in disarray, Bauler’s Aldermanic candidate withdrew from the race.

But the Machine was still able to deliver a vote in parts of the ward. So, faced with the choice of Independent Jack Ringer or Republican Barr McCutcheon, it chose the latter, believing it would suffer less with a GOP elected official, who might tolerate Machine mischief, than with an Independent who would likely make political reform a priority. McCutcheon won.

(The following year, the newly elected Alderman was spotted in a car accompanied by a prostitute. He claimed he was investigating crime in the 43rd Ward).