1980 Cook County State's Attorney election

{{Infobox election

| flag_image = File:Flag of Cook County, Illinois (1961–2022).svg

|election_name=1980 Cook County State's Attorney election

|country=

|type=presidential

|ongoing=no

|previous_election= 1976 Cook County, Illinois elections#State's Attorney

|previous_year= 1976

|next_election= 1984 Cook County, Illinois elections#State's Attorney

|next_year= 1984

|election_date= November 4, 1980

|candidate1=Richard M. Daley

|image1= 150x150px

|party1=Democratic Party (United States)

|popular_vote1= 1,058,529

|percentage1= 50.39%

|candidate2= Bernard Carey

|image2= 150x150px

|party2=Republican Party (United States)

|popular_vote2= 1,042,287

|percentage2= 49.61%

|map_image=

|title=State's Attorney

|before_election= Bernard Carey

|before_party = Republican Party (United States)

|after_election= Richard M. Daley

|after_party = Democratic Party (United States)

|turnout = 76.77%{{cite book |title=OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 4, 1980 |date=1978 |publisher=Illinois State Board of Elections |location=Springfield, Illinois |page=82 |url=https://archive.org/details/officialvote1980illi |access-date=20 October 2020}}

}}

In the 1980 Cook County State's Attorney election, incumbent second-term state's attorney Bernard Carey, a Republican, was unseated by Democrat Richard M. Daley.

Election information

The election was part of the 1980 Cook County, Illinois elections.

1980 was a presidential election year in the United States. The primaries and general elections for Cook County races coincided with those for federal races (President, Senate, and House) and those for state elections.

Democratic primary

=Candidates=

The following candidates ran for the Democratic Party nomination for State's Attorney:

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! colspan="2" |Candidate

!Experience

File:AldermanEdwardMBurke (1).jpg

|Edward M. Burke

|Chicago alderman since 1969

File:Richard M. Daley, circa 1977 (1).jpg

|Richard M. Daley

| Illinois state senator since 1972

=Endorsements=

{{Endorsements box|title=Edward M. Burke|list=

;Organizations

Cook County Democratic Central Committee

;Officeholders

Jane Byrne, mayor of Chicago
Michael Madigan, member of the Illinois House of Representatives

}}

{{Endorsements box|title=Richard M. Daley|list=

;Officeholders

Thomas Hynes, Cook County assessor and 19th ward Committeeman{{cite news |last1=Colby |first1=Peter W. |last2=Green |first2=Paul Michael |title=The Irish game: watch Byrne watch Daley watching Byrne |url=https://www.lib.niu.edu/1980/ii800904.html |access-date=11 December 2020 |work=Illinois Issues |date=September 1980}}

}}

=Campaign=

Daley ran as an "independent" Democrat, rather than pursuing the support of the local political machine.{{cite web |title=First Son: The Biography of Richard M. Daley by Keith Koeneman |url=https://press.uchicago.edu/sites/koeneman/index.html |website=press.uchicago.edu |publisher=University of Chicago Press |access-date=20 October 2020}} Daley's campaign was managed by his brother William M. Daley.{{cite web |last1=Royko |first1=Mike |title=The Vidette 23 October 1980 — The Vidette Digital Archives |url=https://videttearchive.ilstu.edu/?a=d&d=vid19801023-01.2.20&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |website=videttearchive.ilstu.edu |access-date=20 October 2020 |date=23 October 1980}}

Burke aligned himself with Chicago mayor Jane Byrne, and was endorsed by the Cook County Democratic Central Committee.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=J2caAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4ioEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6884,5004966&dq=edward+burke+chicago&hl=en |title=Daley beats Chicago machine |newspaper=Milwaukee Journal |date=March 19, 1980}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_7QqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=I2MEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2161,5764252&dq=edward+burke+chicago&hl=en |title=Worn-out Machine |newspaper=Pittsburgh Press |date=March 24, 1980}} Burke ran at Byrne's urging, as she wanted to prevent Daley from becoming State's Attorney, since she saw him as a likely mayoral challenger in 1983.{{cite web |last1=McManus |first1=Ed |title=Getting mad and getting even: an Irish feud |url=https://www.lib.niu.edu/1980/ii801232.html |website=www.lib.niu.edu |publisher=Illinois Issues |access-date=19 October 2020 |date=December 1980}}{{cite web |last1=Spielman |first1=Fran |title=Ald. Ed Burke at 50 years: A remarkable story of political survival |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/2018/3/6/18407783/ald-ed-burke-at-50-years-a-remarkable-story-of-political-survival |website=Chicago Sun-Times |access-date=22 October 2020 |language=en |date=6 March 2018}}

Burke's loss to Daley was seen at the time as a setback for Chicago's political machine. This was also seen as a bad sign for Byrne, as the prospect of Daley being elevated to Cook County State's Attorney was problematic to her reelection chances, since he was seen as likely to challenge her for reelection in 1983 (and ultimately would).{{cite web |last1=McManus |first1=Ed |title=Suburbs crucial to Richie's rise |url=https://www.lib.niu.edu/1980/ii800632.html |website=www.lib.niu.edu |publisher=Illinois Issues |access-date=19 October 2020 |date=June 1980}}

=Results=

{{Election box begin no change | title=Cook County State’s Attorney Democratic primary}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|candidate = Richard M. Daley (incumbent)

|votes = 436,089

|percentage = 62.63

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|candidate = Edward M. Burke

|votes = 260,266

|percentage = 37.38

}}

{{Election box total no change

| votes = 696,355

| percentage = 100

}}

Republican primary

General election

=Campaign=

While the Cook County Democratic Party organization got behind Daley's candidacy once he won the party's primary, Chicago mayor Byrne continued to attempt to undermine the candidacy of her potential 1983 mayoral challenger. She raised questions of his mental state, accused him of being racist, and even succeeded in getting several ward committeemen to oppose Daley's candidacy. Byrne publicly supported Carey over Daley.{{cite web |title=Cook County State's Attorney Bernard Carey, who once appeared... |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1980/11/05/Cook-County-States-Attorney-Bernard-Carey-who-once-appeared/1328342248400/ |website=UPI |access-date=20 October 2020 |language=en |date=5 November 1980}} Due to her heavy-handed intervention in the campaign, many voters in the city and county viewed the race as a proxy-referendum on mayor Byrne, and cast votes for Daley in order to voice their disapproval of her mayoralty. The feud between Daley and Byrne overshadowed most other aspects of the campaign.

Daley was successful in organizing with the Cook County Democratic Party across the county, including its suburbs. He also continued to benefit from the Daley name, still popular in much of Chicago.

Chicago Sun-Times columns by Mike Royko which attacked Carey may have harmed his performance in the election.

Some of Carey's harsh attacks on Daley may have backfired, offending voters more than persuading them. These included an ad he ran early in the campaign which went as far as to accuse some of Daley's brothers-in-law of being connected to organized crime.

Daley denied rumors that he had plans to seek the mayoralty of Chicago. He promised that he intended to serve a full four-year term if elected state's attorney.{{cite web |last1=Benjamin |first1=Robert |title=Richard Daley |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/386971924 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=Chicago Tribune |access-date=1 June 2021 |language=en |url-access=subscription |date=2 Nov 1980}}

While he had a clean record, Carey had also failed to make many waves while in office.{{cite web |last1=Stewart |first1=Russ |title=ALVAREZ MUST OVERCOME RAP OF "TOO-TOUGH-ON-CRIME" AND "TOO-SOFT-ON-POLITICIANS" |url=http://www.russstewart.com/articles/2015/11-04-2015.html |website=www.russstewart.com |access-date=19 October 2020 |date=4 November 2015}}

A key argument for Carey's past candidacies had been his opposition to the Democratic political machine. With Byrne and some on the Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee effectively supporting Carey over Daley, this argument was no longer persuasive.

Carey criticized Daley as being under-qualified for the office, arguing, "Even his father wouldn't have slated him for this office, because he isn't qualified. He's a ward committeeman, and Mayor Daley never slated someone like that for the prosecutor's job. He knew the people wouldn't buy it."{{cite web |last1=Pratt |first1=Gregory |title=Bernard Carey, former GOP state's attorney who helped spark Operation Greylord, opposed Daleys, dies |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-met-bernard-carey-obituary-20180604-story.html |website=chicagotribune.com |publisher=Chicago Tribune |access-date=22 October 2020 |date=4 June 2018}}

=Results=

{{Election box begin no change | title=Cook County State’s Attorney electionIllinois Elections (p. 90) c. 1986. Publishers, Paul Green, David Everson, Peter Colby, and Joan Parker}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|candidate = Richard M. Daley

|votes = 1,058,529

|percentage = 50.39

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = Bernard Carey (incumbent)

|votes = 1,042,287

|percentage = 49.61

}}