Throwing the election

Shortly before the 1971 municipal election, Republican Alderman Jack Sperling, a four-term incumbent in the heavily Democratic 50th Ward, deserted the organization of GOP Ward Committeeman John Cleland and opened an office of his own. 

Publicly, the spat was attributed to a conflict between the two over Presidential and Senatorial candidate choices. But insiders knew the real reason for the split was that Sperling was negotiating a deal with the Democrats and Cleland had been cut out of it. 

In the previous Aldermanic election, the Democratic Party had supported Richard Elrod (later a State Representative and Cook County Sheriff) in what it felt was its strongest effort to unseat Sperling. Elrod lost.

 Democrats realized they just could not beat the incumbent. But the Alderman had run for two other positions during his tenure and was believed to have tired of his municipal duties. So, a deal was sprung.

 Sperling was part of the City Council "Economy Bloc," a group of Republicans, who were later joined by Independents and an occasional maverick Democrat, who voted against the policies of Mayor Richard J. Daley, specifically those meant to increase the city budget and create additional patronage jobs for the Mayor's campaign workers. 

Sperling agreed to vote for the city budget and reapportionment ordinances, as support of a longtime critic would increase the credibility of the Administration’s actions. The 50th ward would be given its largest ever Democratic majority in the upcoming remap, Democrats would slate a weak candidate in the Aldermanic election, making it easier for Sperling to win re-election, and the Alderman would later be appointed a Circuit Court Judge, an action controlled by the Democratic-dominated Judiciary. 

Sperling, who was Jewish, faced an Irish candidate in the most heavily Jewish ward in Chicago and won by a comfortable margin. Two years later, he was appointed to a judgeship and Democrat Bernard Stone won the Aldermanic seat in a special election. 

50th Ward Democrats did not announce that they were “throwing” the Aldermanic election. They did it quietly so nobody would be suspicious, and so nobody would think they were admitting defeat. 

And the deal didn’t just provide a way for the Democratic organization to get rid of Sperling. It also offered another benefit. By supporting an Irish Catholic candidate, the party was able to cultivate support in that community and provide those voters with an opportunity to choose one of their own, giving the precinct captains in that part of the ward more credibility in future elections.