Remembering the 1979 election that changed everything in Chicago

Ray Hanania on Politics, Media & Life

Remembering the 1979 election that changed everything in Chicago -- April 2, 2019

This is the "Ray Hanania on Politics" Podcast, a look at Chicagoland politics past and present ...

This episode of Ray Hanania on Politics looks at the 1978 campaign and 1979 Chicago Mayoral Election. We talk about the first African American mayor being either Lori Lightfoot or Toni Preckwinkle, but we can’t forget the action-paced newsmaking four year term of Chicago’s first woman Mayor Jane M. Byrne and how she defeated the Chicago Machine, and ended up taking it over …

That was my first real election that I covered as a City Hall reporter and it was one of the most exciting elections Chicago had seen in a long time … Jane Byrne’s rise, her feud with the Cabal of Evil Men who were Ed Fast Eddie Vrdolyak, Ed Burke and First Ward Outfit alderman Fred Roti …her election challenge of Mike Bilandic, who took the office from Wilson Frost who was the President Pro Tempore when Richard J. Daley died on Dec. 20, 1976 …

This is a look back at the rollercoaster first City Hall political earthquake that brought the Chicago Machine to its knees and changed Chicago politics forever … Jane Byrne’s rise opened the door to the changes that we continue to see today in Chicago politics.

My mainstream columns are published at SuburbanChicagoland.com and in seven newspapers in the Southwest region of Chicagoland including The Regional News, The Reporter, the Des Plaines Valley News, and the Southwest News-Herald.

My Middle East columns are published in the Arab News Newspaper, the Middle East Monitor online, and the Arab Daily News online.

I hope you enjoy this episode of Ray Hanania on Politics. Go to RayHananiaOnPolitics.com for the latest episodes, or check us out on iTunes and my personal website www.Hanania.com.