16 Comments - Quizzical - Thursday, Jun 20, 19 @ 2:34 pm: Circa a good while ago I was a starving student working as an election judge. The precinct captain is straight out of Goodfellas — fedora, immense pinky ring, etc. He’s very genial and buys a notably nice lunch for all of us. Six months later he’s indicted for ghost payrolling. Thank you citizens of Chicago, that really was a great lunch. - Elizabeth Neill - Thursday, Jun 20, 19 @ 2:37 pm: Thanks for flagging A.D. Quig’s thread; enjoyed reading it, am following him/her now. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jun 20, 19 @ 2:42 pm: If you’re not checking out A. D. Quig’s twitter on a regular basis, you’re missing out. Favorite story? To be especially bland… The “moral of the story” story; You send in mercenaries to think they can unseat a captain who not only lives in the precinct, but can tell you birthdays, (especially 18th birthdays to register the new voter), anniversaries, who’s sick, who’s passed, attends wakes, gets trees trimmed… … work those 6 weeks hard… but that captain will beat ya… exactly in the races that captain wants you beat. - 47th Ward - Thursday, Jun 20, 19 @ 2:46 pm: Dick Mell used to tell the story of paying some parking tickets for constituents out of his own pocket. Used to be somebody like him could get tickets “non-suited,” and tossed. After the rules were changed to prevent that, he was too embarrassed to tell his voters that he no longer had that kind of clout. - don the legend - Thursday, Jun 20, 19 @ 2:48 pm: Years ago, A committeeman kept cases of the little airplane size liquor bottles. You show him your palm card and proof of voting and you got one, maybe two. - northerwatersports - Thursday, Jun 20, 19 @ 2:49 pm: Bless his soul… The late Pat Botterman…driving those who couldn’t, to the polls in a particularly cold November, and stopping while taking them home….to hand out free gloves from his trunk to the homeless at several train stations here in the NW burbs. Wheeling and Palatine Township activists all witnessed the definition of effort, and of being humbled. We all learned from his example. - Bourbon Street - Thursday, Jun 20, 19 @ 2:53 pm: Back in the day in Cook County when the endorsement of the Democratic Party just about insured victory for slated judicial candidates, a precinct captain of my acquaintance would pick one non-slated judicial candidate to push in the precinct that he worked because he wanted to show the Committeeman how much control he had. He’d let the Committeeman know at the start of the election season who he was pushing. The precinct captain usually delivered for his “candidate” (and the rest of the ticket). - rfmcscramble - Thursday, Jun 20, 19 @ 3:02 pm: I remember a captain in a very tight race, beat an incumbent mayor 3 to 1 in one precinct of a tight race she lost by 7 votes. Rumor has it she promised him a job and didnt deliver….it wind up costing her own job. - Peorgie Tirebiter - Thursday, Jun 20, 19 @ 3:05 pm: Lozano vs Tabates. 6 precincts in play to decide the election. Lozano had a dozen guys and his mother working on Election Day. Silvana had the precinct captain. She crushed them - Paddyrollingstone - Thursday, Jun 20, 19 @ 3:10 pm: Not really a precinct captain story, but it is one worth sharing: 1991, I was working as a poll watcher for Mayor Daley’s campaign and we were assigned to a polling place off of Taylor Street. At one point a senior citizen came into vote and the guy looked like he needed help getting around. One of the election judges, cigarette in hand, took him into the booth and said, “here,” as she pointed him where to vote. Pretty sure that vote was not for R. Eugene Pincham. - Been There - Thursday, Jun 20, 19 @ 3:14 pm: I pulled up in front of my polling place on the street and waved to somebody I knew across the street. Right then I twisted my ankle and went down. The precinct captains were standing out in front and ran over to help me. They helped me up and got me inside to vote. I was able to walk out on my own but after it swelled up and I went to the hospital I found it was broke. - Ashland Adam - Thursday, Jun 20, 19 @ 3:54 pm: - - Jimmy Nolan winks – 56th Prct. votes strongly - - Connolly’s, Devon - - - Jaime Andrade - Thursday, Jun 20, 19 @ 3:57 pm: Started knocking on doors in 1995 and I have had many experiences and stories to tell. But my first experience was truly unforgettable and the next two months of being incorporated into the Dick Mell’s 33Ward Reg Dem Org. was truly an experience out of the movies so first of all had no idea what an alderman, precinct captain or Committeman was when a Deputy Commissioner asked me to help in his run for Alderman of the new 35th ward after redistricting while I was a summer intern for the city of chicago. I was working a precinct in the old 32 ward 17th precinct which was a 33rd ward precinct before redistricting. When Bobby G comes up to me and says who sent you why are working in my precinct, Bobby G (he was a precinct worker for Ernie the precinct captain who ended up being my mentor) Bobby G pulls out a knife and says kid if any of my signs go missing or you take down my door hangers I will tie you to the tree. I thought he was kidding but little did I know he really did tie a person to the tree. After the primary the precinct captain said the Boss wants to talk to you. What Boss? The Committeman. What is that? They want to know who you belong too? Who sent you? I kept telling them I belong to St. Andrew’s parish. Everybody thought I was messing with them. And once I was brought to the 33rd ward office on ward night to the original 33rd ward office was an experience straight out of the movies. Fedoras, everyone smoking and so many people that people had to wait outside. This was just the beginning of many years of being a precinct captain so many stories that I would need weeks to tell them all. Oh one more story about one of our best precinct captain ever that happened to me when I was already a state rep. I knock on the door and I say hi I am your state rep. Who? Your state rep. Who cares come back with $&@-/$ the precinct captain. I talk to no one or Vote for no one unless he tells me it is ok to vote for you. Yes he is my volunteer. Like I said no captain no vote. Bye. - Chris Cleveland - Thursday, Jun 20, 19 @ 4:03 pm: This may be my first post on this site. It was 1990, and I was new to Chicago politics. I had just graduated from the University of Chicago. I went up to the northwest side to campaign for Walter Dudycz, a Republican running for Congress. They assigned me to pass out flyers on election day outside a polling place. The location was at a Chicago Park District facility. The precinct captain was also the guy running the facility. All day long he and his friends would leave his office in the building, hop in a van, and return with voters. He was on the public payroll, doing this on public time. He walked out to threaten me more than once, claiming that I was too close to the door (I wasn’t) and that he’d have me arrested. At one point two men walked up to me, a very big guy (much bigger than me) and a short guy. The big guy got in my face and started threatening me. I said, “You want me to call a cop? There’s one right in there.” This was back in the day when they had a cop in every polling place. The big guy looks at me, points at the little guy, and says “He is a cop.” Turns out, he was. This experience is one of the reasons I have spent 30 years fighting the scum that runs this city. Chris Cleveland Chairman, Chicago Republican Party - Lefty Lefty - Thursday, Jun 20, 19 @ 4:07 pm: Back in the 70s, my dad and I would run into Mr. O’Shaughnessy in the 19th Ward. They never said anything more than “hello” to each other. Years later I realized it likely was because my dad was a Republican. (My dad never ever told us who he voted for. We could figure it out when we got old enough.) - Excitable Boy - Thursday, Jun 20, 19 @ 6:31 pm: - I have spent 30 years fighting - Doing a great job, Chris… As a white dude I was volunteering for a Latino candidate that just happened to be a friend of mine in a mostly Latino area. This resulted in bouncing around to very selective walk packets. None of the captains knew me but everywhere I went they’d notice and pull up next to me to see who I was helping, they all looked pretty surprised when they found out I was for their candidate. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.