Daley Wins By Landslide In Chicago

Mayor Richard M. Daley scored a landslide victory over independent Roland Burris in a mayoral election Tuesday that drew the lowest voter turnout in half a century.

With 34 percent of precincts reporting, Daley had 138,775 votes, or 69 percent, to 54,925, or 27 percent, for Burris, the state’s first black attorney general. Republican Ray Wardingley had 6,282, or 3 percent, and Lawrence Redmond, the candidate of the tiny Harold Washington Party, had 1,452, or 1 percent.

The lopsided race resulted in an estimated voter turnout of just 41 percent, and was sometimes overshadowed by two aldermanic runoffs that involved candidates with ties to the Gangster Disciples street gang.

Daley, 52, held a commanding lead in the polls throughout the campaign and raised $3.9 million to Burris’ $60,000 in his bid for a second full term.