| Election Name: | 1883 Chicago mayoral election |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Year: | 1881 |
| Next Year: | 1885 |
| Election Date: | April 3, 1883 |
| Image1: | Carter Harrison, Sr. - Brady-Handy (3x4a).jpg |
| Nominee1: | Carter Harrison Sr. |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 41,226 |
| Percentage1: | 57.11% |
| Nominee2: | Eugene Cary |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote2: | 30,963 |
| Percentage2: | 42.89% |
| Mayor | |
| Before Election: | Carter Harrison Sr. |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Carter Harrison Sr. |
| After Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
The Chicago mayoral election of 1883 was held on Tuesday April 3, saw incumbent Carter Harrison Sr. defeat Republican Eugene Cary by a double-digit margin.[1] [2]
By winning the 1883 election, Harrison became the second mayor in Chicago history to be elected to a third term (after only Francis Cornwall Sherman), and the first to be elected to a third consecutive term.
By the day of the election, Harrison was already the second-longest serving mayor in the city's history, and was only roughly a month shy of surpassing Monroe Heath as the longest serving mayor.
Harrison's 15% margin of victory was the greatest in all of his campaigns for mayor.[3]
Harrison's opponent, Eugene Cary, was a member of the Chicago Common Council that had previously been county judge and city attorney in Sheboygan, Wisconsin and had also served as a member of the Tennessee Senate.[4]
A key issue of the election was the "high licenses" for liquor sales in the city.[5] Cary favored the high license.[6]
During the campaign, many reformers, newspapers, and business interests coalesced their support behind a Citizen's Ticket that supported Republican nominee Eugene Cary for mayor.[7]
64% of the city's German population voted for Harrison.[5]