The squeeze

Freshman State Rep. Ellis Levin ran for re-election in his Lakeview/Uptown/Edgewater district in 1978 with the backing of IVI and IPO. The local Democratic Machine wanted to beat him.

So, it opted for an ethnic strategy to do the deed. It re-slated State Rep. William Marovitz, who was expected to gobble up the Jewish vote, and paired him with John Cullerton, who was expected to win the non-Jewish vote.

The strategy worked, and Levin lost.