Byrne, << burn, >> Jane Margaret (1933-2014), was the first woman mayor of Chicago. Byrne, a Democrat, served as mayor from 1979 to 1983. She had attracted nationwide attention in the primary election by winning an upset victory over the city’s Democratic political organization. In the mayoral election, Byrne received 82 percent of the votes, the highest percentage in Chicago’s history.
Byrne was born on May 24, 1933, in Chicago and graduated from Barat College. In 1963, Mayor Richard J. Daley appointed her to work in Chicago’s antipoverty program. In 1968, he named Byrne commissioner of consumer sales. She continued in that position in the administration of Michael A. Bilandic, who became mayor after Daley died in 1976.
Bilandic fired Byrne in 1977 after she criticized him in a dispute over a fare increase for Chicago’s taxicabs. Several months later, Byrne announced her candidacy for mayor. Byrne won support from Chicago voters when she attacked the city government for its handling of snow removal following a record snowfall before the 1979 primary.
Byrne again sought the Democratic mayoral nomination in 1983. But Harold Washington, an African American member of Congress, defeated her in the primary. Washington, who won the mayoral election, defeated Byrne again in the 1987 Democratic primary for mayor. Byrne was defeated in the 1991 Democratic primary for mayor by Richard M. Daley. Byrne died on Nov. 14, 2014.
