Daley Reelected As Chicago Mayor

MAYOR Richard Daley says his big reelection victory ``shattered the myth'' that Chicago elections must include name-calling and bitterness. Mr. Daley, son of legendary Mayor Richard J. Daley, received 75 percent of the vote in Tuesday's election, according to returns, handily defeating two challengers.

Daley, elected two years ago in a special election, won his first full four-year term.

``This campaign was a milestone for all of us,'' the mayor said. ``We've shattered the myth that with a Chicago election must come name-calling and bitterness. I'm proud that we won with votes from every community.''

Daley, who is white, received heavy support from Hispanic voters and won one of every three votes from black neighborhoods, aides to the mayor said. Analysts, however, said many blacks apparently chose to sit out the contest.

The election was marked by the lowest turnout in Chicago's history. Election officials said about 46 percent of the 1.4 million registered voters went to the polls.

The 1991 campaign was in marked contrast to recent battles for City Hall in Chicago in which race, reform politics, and other volatile issues dominated.

Two years ago, Daley became the first white candidate to wrest the mayoralty of a major US city from a black incumbent.