ABSTRACT
Chicago is the only large city in the county with an African-American population of 35 percent or more that does not have a member of that community as its chief executive. Chicago had not elected a Republican mayor for sixty-six years, since the last victory of William Hale Thompson in 1927. In April 1983, Harold Washington was elected Mayor of Chicago. Building what became Washington's coalition began well before the 1983 election season. Coalitions across racial and ethnic lines do not arise simply because the "objective conditions" are in place. Washington attracted the support of only 12.3 percent of the whites who voted in April 1983, but he polled strong majorities among the Latinos and the varied Asian groups casting ballots in the mayoral election. In April 1983 Washington's candidacy enlisted the support of a somewhat diverse coalition of voters. The composition of Washington's voting coalitions in February and April 1987 did not differ very much from April 1983.
