In the 1980's Harold Washington faces racism and the corrupt political machine as he attempts to become Chicago's first black mayor.

SYNOPSIS:

Before Harold Washington would agree to run for mayor of Chicago, he gave the committee to elect a black mayor a few stipulations. He tells them that they will need to register 50K new voters and raise $250K.

The desire to have a black mayor has reached a fever pitch. Jane Byrne, the current mayor has removed a couple of black people from the school board and is trying to replace them with white women. She also wants to make Thomas Ayers the president of CPS. A group of people led by Conrad Worrill filed a lawsuit to stop the appointment of Ayers. They received information that Thomas Ayers owns property in Chicago, but he votes in Rolling Meadows. When they filed the lawsuit, they also asked that at least 7 black people be on the school board.

The Committee to Elect a Black Mayor broke into several subcommittees to register voters, educate the public on the voting process and raise funds for the campaign. After a concerted effort, they presented Harold with what he asked for. In November 1982, Harold Washington officially entered the primary race for the Democratic nomination for mayor of Chicago.

Mayor Jane Byrne, Richard M Daley and Harold Washington are in a three-way race for the Democratic nomination for Mayor. They participate in a series of debates. The media hasn’t paid much attention to Harold Washington, but after the first debate, they are all very interested in him as a serious candidate.

Harold wins the Democratic nomination for Mayor of Chicago. Mayor Byrne decides that that’s not really what the people want so she mounts a brief write-in campaign. Bernie Epton wins the Republican nomination for Mayor. His campaign takes a slightly racist turn with the campaign slogan: Bernie Epton Before It’s Too Late.

In spite of the racist rhetoric, Harold Washington is elected as Chicago’s first black mayor. He is immediately met with opposition from many members of the city council. Nearly everything that Harold tries to pass is struck down by the 29 council members who formed a block the press calls the “Vrdolyak 29” led by Ed Vrdolyak, who is also a Democratic member of the city council. Harold has 21 aldermen on his side, but it’s not enough to pass any legislation.

The Council Wars continue until Harold realizes that the ward maps had been drawn to dilute the Hispanic and Asian voting powers. So Harold petitions the court to have new ward maps drawn. But not only does he have to win the map re-draw, he also must get the court to hold a special election to immediately rectify the situation. He wins both arguments and campaigns begin in the affected wards. There are 7 wards that are affected and Harold needs to win 4 of those wards with the people that he has chosen to endorse. On election day, Harold’s people win 3 of the 7 wards. The last ward election is being contested because the polling places didn’t open on time so the judge orders the polls to remain open past 7pm. Vrdolyak and his people contests this, but ultimately lose. Luis Gutierrez wins and that gives Harold 25 votes and the Vrdolyak 29 is now down to 25. As the mayor, Harold has the tie-breaking vote.

Harold launches a re-election campaign and wins again. He dies in office 6 months later at the age of 65.

WE WANT HAROLD