1840 Chicago mayoral election

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{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox election

| election_name = Chicago mayoral election, 1840

| country =

| type = presidential

| ongoing = no

| previous_year = 1839

| next_year = 1841

| election_date = March 3, 1840

| image1 = File:Alexander Loyd (1).jpg

| candidate1 = Alexander Loyd

| party1 = Democratic Party (United States)

| running_mate1 =

| colour1 =

| popular_vote1 = 582

| percentage1 = 57.91%

| image2 = File:BWRaymond (1).jpg

| candidate2 = Benjamin Wright Raymond

| party2 = Whig Party (United States)

| colour2 =

| running_mate2 =

| popular_vote2 = 423

| percentage2 = 42.09%

| map_image =

| map_size =

| map_caption =

| title = Mayor

| before_election = Benjamin Wright Raymond

| before_party = Whig Party (United States)

| after_election = Alexander Loyd

| after_party = Democratic Party (United States)

}}

{{ElectionsIL}}

The 1840 Chicago mayoral election saw Democratic nominee Alexander Loyd defeat incumbent Whig Benjamin Wright Raymond by a landslide 15.8 point margin.

With a narrative that local elections such as Chicago's would be a bellwether of the coming 1840 United States presidential election, both parties locally viewed the election as being of great importance.{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d89FAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA222 |title = The Invention of Party Politics: Federalism, Popular Sovereignty, and Constitutional Development in Jacksonian Illinois|isbn = 9780807861318|last1 = Leonard|first1 = Gerald|date = 2003-10-15}} Chicago's mayoral result, ultimately, was no bellwether of the presidential election's party outcome.

The election was held on March 3.{{cite web|url=https://www.chipublib.org/mayor-alexander-loyd-biography//|title=Mayor Alexander Loyd Biography|access-date=23 December 2018|publisher=Chicago Public Library}}