Pucinski's challenge to the Machine

I was sitting in 41st ward Alderman Roman Pucinski’s City Hall office in 1977 while he was challenging Mayor Michael Bilandic in the Democratic Mayoral primary election. I was Pooch’s 50th Ward Coordinator.

A letter was delivered from the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. Pucinski read it then said with anger, “There’s going to be a lottery to determine ballot position but they don’t say when or where.”

I thought, “now you know what it’s like to be on the other side.”

Well, he snared the first ballot position, providing a presumed advantage on Election Day.

But party leaders stripped him of his informal patronage powers. Although he was the elected Democratic Ward Committeeman in the 41st, his role in the selection of government employees was transferred to State Representative Ralph Capparelli. And his staff, for the first time, was denied paid time off to campaign on Election Day.

He carried six wards (including the 50th), all within the boundaries of the district he had once represented in Congress, and he received more votes than might have been expected in some other wards, perhaps due to his favorable ballot position. But he still lost. After that, he continued to vote with the Machine majority in the City Council.

Excerpted from Chicago Political Stories at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/994143