Double-crossing Dunne

State Rep. Jesse White of the 42nd ward and former State Senator Daniel O'Brien of the 43rd ward, were slated for the two state legislative seats in a Lincoln Park-based district in 1976, as party leaders hoped to defeat incumbent Reform State Rep. Jim Houlihan.

 The 42nd ward organization campaigned for both White and O'Brien. But in the 43rd, where O'Brien was enmeshed in a tough re-election campaign for Committeeman, party workers supported only him.

 O'Brien and Houlihan won, and White lost, causing George Dunne, the 42nd Ward Committeman, to fume about having been double-crossed by an untrustworthy ally. Still, he negotiated a similar deal in the following election, and it stuck, with both O'Brien and White beating Houlihan.