They took Republican ballots

Thousands of north side voters who would have normally voted in the Democratic Primary instead cast Republican ballots in the 1980 primary election.

They didn’t like Jimmy Carter, who was running for re-election as President and they didn’t like Ted Kennedy, who was challenging Carter in the Democratic Primary. But they wanted to vote against Ronald Reagan.

So, they voted in the Republican primary for John Anderson, who had no chance of defeating Reagan.

As a result, Reformers came up short in races for 49th Ward Democratic Committeeman and for a state representative seat in a district centered in Lincoln Park.

The size of the crossover vote was unexpected. And persuading those voters to cast a ballot in the Democratic primary would have required candidates to explain why they thought a Ward Committeeman or a state legislator was more important than the President of the United States.

Voters would not have understood.