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Feb 28, 2007 1:08 pm US/Central
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Mayor Daley Wins History-Making Election
Daley Poised To Surpass His Father As Longest-Serving Mayor
CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine, Dana Kozlov, Executive Producer of Digital Media John Dodge, and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Mayor Richard M. Daley was easily elected to a sixth term on Tuesday and now stands poised to eclipse his legendary father as the longest serving mayor ever in Chicago.
As of Wednesday morning, with 98.08 percent of the precincts reporting, Mayor Daley had 71.18 percent of the vote. This was compared to 8.80 percent for opponent William "Dock" Walls and 20.02 percent for Dorothy Brown.
The mayor was first elected in 1989 and will break this father's longevity record in December 2010.
In his victory speech, Daley emphasized a mission to build stronger neighborhoods, safer streets and better schools.
"I will keep working as hard as I can for the next four years to justify your faith and confidence in me," Daley told supporters Tuesday night.
Mayor Daley talked with CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine about his campaign and victory.
"Every election is very important. You don't take it for granted, and you have to go with enthusiasm, and you always say, 'I want to talk about myself and I don't want to be negative.' I was never negative to any of my opponents and I never will be, because people are tired of negative campaigning. They don't want negative campaigning in this country. They want a positive attitude."
Despite having amassed millions in campaign contributions, Daley ran a very low-key campaign. He didn't purchase much television ad time until just a few weeks ago, made relatively few campaign appearances, and refused to debate his lesser-known opponents.
Brown, the Cook County Circuit Court Clerk, and Walls, a former aide to the late
Mayor Harold Washington, had trouble raising money and were never really a factor in the campaign.
While Daley's victory was virtually assured from the start, his power had been weakened by ongoing hiring scandals inside City Hall.
The conviction of Robert Sorich last year put a serious dent in the mayor's old-school ward campaign machine. Sorich, the mayor's former patronage chief, was convicted of rigging hiring practices to favor those with political connections. In the wake of that conviction, the mayor filed fewer ballot petitions than in past years and vowed that he would not take contributions from anybody doing business with the city.
When asked about his win despite corruption charges, the mayor said the public knew and understood him.
"They knew me. I think people know me. There are people, unfortunately, who get corrupted. That's individuals," the mayor said. "But most employees are not corrupt, in the public or private sector. It does happen and then you go on with it. You move and you correct it. They entrust me with public trust. I understand that, and they understand me."
Daley, who will turn 65 next month, also benefited from two other events. Two of his potential challengers, congressmen Jesse Jackson Jr. and Luis Gutierrez decided against running against the mayor after Democrats took control of Congress in the November election. The second event had little to do with politics -- the Bears' Super Bowl run deflected attention from the election until three weeks ago.
Daley said he has as much passion as he did when he was first elected.
"This city is on the move more than any other American city or any city in the world," Daley said. "This city is going places globally, and I want to take it there."
In her concession speech, Brown said she had a hard time raising funds, and she said she believed it was because of fear of offending the current administration.
"Our fundraising was very difficult, because people were afraid; they felt threatened, especially individuals that, let's say, even worked for a company that had grants from the city," Brown said, "and that's the thing that we have to change. People should not be afraid."
Walls told his supporters that Chicago is apparently not ready to reform, and said he thinks money matters in the city and corruption does not.
Daley has been praised for his revitalization of downtown, but his opponents criticized him for, they say, failing to deal with the plight of the city's poor. Daley has forged an international pro-big business reputation, while boosting tourism dollars for the city. Now, his latest bid at capping his legacy, will be his efforts to bring the Olympics to Chicago in 2016.
In the mid-1990s the mayor took over control of the city's public schools and has seen test scores gradually improve, but his critics say much more work needs to be done.
The mayor's father,
Richard J. Daley, also was elected six times. He served from April 1955 until dying in office in December 1976 at age 74, after a span of 21 years and 246 days. Richard M. Daley will surpass that tenure if he serves until December 25, 2010.
For city clerk, Miguel Del Valle received 57.59 percent of the vote. Del Valle had been appointed by the mayor to replace James Laski, who pleaded guilty last year to taking bribes in the city Hired Truck scandal. Challenger Diane Jones had 33.62 percent of the vote, and Jose Cerda III received 7.81 percent.
Treasurer Stephanie Neely ran unopposed.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)