The Illinois Solidarity Party was an American political party in the state of Illinois. It was named after Lech Wałęsa's Solidarity movement in Poland, which was then widely admired in Illinois because of its very large Polish-American population, especially around Chicago.
The party was founded in 1986 by Senator Adlai Stevenson III in reaction to the Democratic Party's nomination of two followers of Lyndon LaRouche in the race for high state offices: Mark Fairchild, who was running for Lieutenant Governor, and Janice Hart, who was running for Illinois Secretary of State. Stevenson, a Democratic candidate for Illinois Governor, did not want to run alongside anybody associated with LaRouche's organization.
The Solidarity Party continued to exist, unaffiliated with Stevenson, after the 1986 election. In the 1987 Chicago mayoral election, Edward Vrdolyak ran for mayor of Chicago on the Illinois Solidarity Party ticket, which provided the major opposition to incumbent Harold Washington, Chicago's first African-American mayor. Vrdolyak lost to Washington by a final tally of 53%–43%.
The party's continued existence afterward made it an easy target for other small political parties to "take over" whenever necessary. One such group was the New Alliance Party (NAP), which was largely unknown in Illinois but still managed to run some of its candidates for local offices. The NAP founder Lenora Fulani campaigned as a Solidarity Party presidential candidate in 1988 and 1992.
Electoral history President Year Candidate Popular vote % Result 1988 Lenora FulaniJoyce Dattner 10,276 4th
Congressional elections Year Chamber District Candidate Popular vote % Result 1986 Senate Einar V. Dyhrkopp 15,804 3rd 1988 House of Representatives 9th Jessie Fields 2,000 3rd 1990 House of Representatives 5th Ronald "Ron" Bartos 3,001 3rd 10th Herbert L. Gorrell 2,243 3rd 11th Larry Saska 2,692 3rd 12th Steve Pedersen 24,450 2nd 15th Brian James O'Neill II 2,250 3rd
Statewide elections Year Office Candidate Popular vote % Result 1986 Governor Adlai Stevenson IIIMike Howlett 1,256,626 2nd Attorney General John Ray Keith 33,702 3rd Secretary of State Jane N. Spirgel 521,410 2nd Comptroller A. Patricia Scott 78,389 3rd Treasurer William E. Skedd 50,570 3rd University of Illinois trustees Elena Mulcahy 108,337 7th rowspan=3 James S. Spencer 102,419 8th Philip Martin 92,253 9th 1988 University of Illinois trustees Martin C. Ortega 97,887 9th Alan Port 61,935 11th 1990 Governor Jessie FieldsMarisellis Brown 35,067 3rd University of Illinois trustees Martin C. Ortega 226,103 7th
Legislative elections Year Chamber District Candidate Popular vote % Result 1988 Senate 15th Bernard Cole 942 3rd 21st Earl N. Smith 780 3rd House of Representatives 26th Chuck Edmonds 310 3rd 30th Edward O'Malley 683 3rd 42nd Vernell Smith 352 3rd 76th Robert Hugh Lee 2,415 2nd 1990 House of Representatives 30th Stanley J. Gruca 564 3rd
Judicial elections Year Court Candidate Popular vote % Result 1988 Circuit Court of Cook County Patrick J. O'Malley 94,642 2nd
Local elections Year Area Office Candidate Popular vote % Result 1987 Chicago Mayor Edward Vrdolyak 468,493 2nd 1988 Cook County Recorder of Deeds Edward M. Wojkowski 62,968 3rd 1990 Cook County Sheriff William M. Piecuch, Sr. 7,648 4th
See also 1986 Illinois elections 1986 Illinois gubernatorial election 1987 Chicago mayoral election
References
External links THE 1986 LAROUCHE ELECTION DEBACLE IN ILLINOIS SOME INDICATIONS THAT FOREIGN SOUNDING NAMES MATTER Etext of LaRouche Book: The Ugly Truth About the ADL LaRouchies pose serious threat to uninformed voters Brooks’ fraudulent arguments aren’t worth ignoring anymore Primary elections: GOP contest for governor, Democrat fights for two lesser offices CHICAGO RE-ELECTS WASHINGTON AS MAYOR - The New York Times