1955 Chicago mayoral election

1955 Chicago mayoral election

← 1951 April 5, 1955 1959 →
Turnout	64.2%[1] 7.4 pp
Nominee Richard J. Daley Robert E. Merriam Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 708,660 581,461 Percentage 54.93% 45.07%
Mayor before election Martin H. Kennelly Democratic Elected Mayor Richard Joseph Daley Democratic

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v t e

The 1955 Chicago mayoral election saw Democrat Richard J. Daley win election to his first term as mayor by a ten-point margin over Republican Robert E. Merriam. This was the narrowest margin of victory of any of Daley's mayoral races.

Daley had defeated incumbent mayor Martin H. Kennelly in the Democratic Party's primary election in order to win the Democratic nomination. As the newly seated Cook County Democratic Party chairman, Daley refused Kennelly the party' endorsement in the primary election, and instead challenged Kennelly in the primary, taking the party's endorsement for himself. Daley and others had believed that Kennelly would be a weak candidate against Merriam, who was perceived to be the likely Republican nominee. Daley and the Democratic Party establishment also feared that Kennelly might dismantle the city's patronage system. Also challenging Kennelly was State Representative Benjamin S. Adamowski, who ran as an anti-political machine candidate. Daley won 49.05% of the vote in the primary, held on February 22, 1955. Kennelly won 35.42% and Adamowski won 15.02%. The remaining 0.51% was won by minor contender Clarence Balek.