Jane Byrne - Later Career

Later Career

Byrne was narrowly defeated in the 1983 Democratic primary for Mayor by Harold Washington. The younger Daley ran a close third, splitting the white vote with Byrne and allowing Washington to win the Democratic primary with just 36% of the vote. Washington went on to win the general election in a racially polarized contest. Byrne ran against Washington again in the 1987 primary but was defeated. She subsequently endorsed Washington for the general election, in which he faced three white opponents.

Byrne ran one more major campaign, a failed bid in the 1988 Democratic Primary for Cook County Circuit Court Clerk. Byrne sought Washington's support, yet shortly before his sudden death in late 1987 the Mayor endorsed Aurelia Pucinski, daughter of longtime Alderman Roman Pucinski, as part of a bid to reconcile with white machine politicians. Pucinski went on to defeat Byrne in the primary and Vrdolyak—by then a Republican—in the general election.

Byrne also ran against the younger Mayor Daley in 1991, but by this time she was very much a marginal figure. Daley's chief rival in that race was Alderman Danny K. Davis, a black politician from the West Side who himself did not pose an especially forceful challenge.

Byrne now lives in the same apartment building she has lived in since the 1970s. Her second husband, journalist Jay McMullen, died of lung cancer in 1992. Her first husband, a Navy pilot, died when his plane crashed while landing at Glenview Naval Air Station. Byrne has one grandchild, Willie. Her daughter, Kathy, is a lawyer with a Chicago firm. Her book, My Chicago (ISBN 0-8101-2087-9), was published in 1992, and covers her life through her political career.

On May 16, 2011 Byrne attended the inauguration of Rahm Emanuel as Mayor of Chicago in a rare public appearance due to health problems she has experienced in recent years. Byrne, David Orr and Richard M. Daley are currently the only living former Mayors of Chicago.