Dumped

State Rep. Michael Brady resigned his seat in a Rogers Park/West Rogers Park/Evanston district in 1979 upon being named co-Chief of Staff to newly elected Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne. At the behest of 49th Ward Democratic Committeeman Neil Hartigan, Lee Preston was appointed to fill the remainder of Brady’s term.

Not long after, Hartigan resigned as Ward Committeeman and was replaced by Brady, who didn’t want Preston. So, in the 1980 Democratic primary, Preston was dumped from the party slate, and Chicago Democrats endorsed Timothy Murtaugh and Leah Bloomenthal.

Preston ran anyway and retained the backing of some of the party foot soldiers. Two term State Rep. Woody Bowman ran with the backing of IVI-IPO and the Democratic Party of Evanston (DPOE).

Bowman finished first and Preston edged Murtaugh for the second of the two available spots.

Get the details in Chicago Political Stories at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/994143