It was a familiar name

For a long time, Convention Delegate elections in the Democratic Party had nothing to do with the Presidential Primary election. The top vote-getters among Delegate candidates were the winners, regardless of the candidate to whom they were pledged.

In fact, the Presidential Primary was often called a “beauty contest” because it didn’t mean anything, and many contenders did not even bother to compete.

Forty-seven candidates ended up running for the eight Delegate slots in 1976. John Cullerton, who later became Illinois Senate President, won the second ballot spot in his first electoral campaign, and his name appeared on the ballot immediately before the eight Machine candidates.

He ran pledged to “favorite son” Adlai Stevenson III, just as they did. Thousands of voters recognized his surname as that of a former county official and thought he was part of the Machine slate, even though he wasn’t, so they voted for him and he won.

Exerpted from “Chicago Political Stories: Devious, Comical, and Just Plain Memorable,” at  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/994143