They didn't want Washington

Quite a few IVI members sat out the 1977 Democratic Mayoral Primary. They wanted to unseat Mayor Michael Bilandic but they favored the candidacy of Roman Pucinski rather than that of the IVI-endorsed candidate Harold Washington.

I recruited them as poll watchers for the Pucinski campaign, where I was volunteering as 50th Ward Coordinator, but they didn’t want to openly oppose IVI.

So, they only helped on the condition I would provide them with a pollwatcher credential other than Pucinski. Fortunately, I was able to do that.