1844 Chicago mayoral elections

The 1844 Chicago mayoral elections is the first of only two instances in which a Chicago mayoral election was declared invalid (the other being the disputed April 1876 mayoral election).

As a result of the Common Council declaring the result of the city's March 1844 mayoral election null and void, a second election was held in April.

While the result of the March election had been a victory for incumbent mayor Augustus Garrett, Garrett was defeated in the April election by Alson Sherman, who had not been a candidate in March.

March election

March 1844 Chicago mayoral election

March 4, 1844[1]

Nominee Augustus Garrett George Dole Henry Smith Party Democratic Whig Liberty Popular vote 805 798 193 Percentage 44.82% 44.43% 10.75%

Mayor before election Augustus Garrett Democratic Elected Mayor Result of election voided

In the Chicago mayoral election of March 1844, Democrat Augustus Garrett was reelected, defeating Whig nominee George Dole by a margin of only seven votes out of 1,796 votes cast.[1][2][3]

Campaign

In February incumbent mayor Augustus Garrett was unanimously nominated by the Democratic Party to run for reelection.[4] George Dole was the Whig Party nominee.[4] Also running was abolitionist Henry Smith,[4] making this the third consecutive Chicago mayoral election he competed in.

Results

March 1844 Chicago mayoral election[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Augustus Garrett (incumbent)	805	44.82
	Whig	George Dole	798	44.43
	Liberty	Henry Smith	193	10.75
Turnout			1,796

Had the results of this election not been overturned, Garrett would have become the first individual to be elected to two consecutive terms as mayor of Chicago. This accolade instead went to James H. Woodworth in 1849.

Voiding of the March election

The Common Council investigated allegations that the Democrats had conducted electoral fraud in the mayoral election.[2] Whigs alleged that the Democrats had bought votes, violated the secrecy of ballots in two wards (the 3rd and 5th), and altering the clocks at election places. The Common Council assembled an investigating committee which heard more than two weeks of testimony from more than thirty witnesses.[2] While the committee ignored many allegations, the Common Council, nevertheless, ordered for a new election to be conducted on the grounds that clerks in wards had been unqualified to vote.[2][5]

April election

April 1844 Chicago mayoral election

Nominee Alson Sherman Augustus Garrett Henry Smith Party Independent Democratic Democratic Liberty Popular vote 837 694 126 Percentage 50.51% 41.88% 7.60%

Mayor before election Augustus Garrett Democratic Elected Mayor Alson Sherman Independent Democratic

In the Chicago mayoral election of April 1844, Independent Democrat Alson Sherman defeated Democratic incumbent Augustus Garrett and Liberty Party nominee Henry Smith by a 9 point margin.

Results

April 1844 Chicago mayoral election[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent Democratic	Alson Sherman	837	50.51
	Democratic	Augustus Garrett (incumbent)	694	41.88
	Liberty	Henry Smith	126	7.60
Turnout			1,657

References

1. Alfred Theodore, Andreas (1844). History of Chicago: Ending with the year 1857. Chicago.
2. Einhorn, Robin L. (2001). Property Rules: Political Economy in Chicago, 1833-1872. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 34–36.
3. https://www.chipublib.org/mayor-augustus-garrett-biography/
4. Goodspeed, Weston A. (Feb 6, 2017). The History of Cook County, Illinois. Jazzybee Verlag.
5. Garrett, Augustus (March 7, 1844). "Inaugural Address of Mayor Augustus Garrett". Chicago Public Library. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
6. "Chicago Mayors, 1837-2007". www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
7. "RaceID=486023". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2018-12-12.