Dick Simpson (politician)
Dick Simpson is a professor, author, and filmmaker who formerly served as a Chicago alderman from 1971 through 1979.
Simpson is considered to be a progressive.
Early life
Simpson was born in 1940 in Houston, Texas. He as an only child. His first name is Dick, rather than Dick being a nickname for Richard, as it commonly is. Simpson's family lived in a middle class household.Participating in the civil rights movement, Simpson participated in a 1960 stand-in.
Simpson graduated from University of Texas in 1963. He spent some time in Africa completing research for his doctoral dissertation. While living in Africa, he wrote to his adviser specifically requesting for him to find him a job in a large city with racial conflict, as Simpson desired to be part of the progressive political transformation of a city.
Early career
Simpson began teaching as a political science professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1967.During the 1968 Democratic Party presidential primaries, he first became Eugene McCarthy's campaign manager for Illinois's 9th congressional district, then was promoted to his statewide Illinois campaign manager, a role he held up through the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Simpson participated in protests held during the convention.
In 1969, Simpson managed the successful 44th Ward aldermanic campaign of William Singer, an independent liberal.
Simpson was a cofounder of the Independent Precinct Organization.
Aldermanic career
Simpson served two terms as a Chicago alderman for the 44th Ward, from 1971 through 1979. He was first elected in 1971 in an open race, as 44th Ward incumbent William Singer was redistricted into the 43rd Ward. He had defeated the city's Democratic machine to win election to his seat.As an alderman, Simpson was a political independent. He was among a handful of liberal alderman on the Chicago City Council. He was an advocate of political reform. He was supported by the lakefront liberals.
During his time on the City Council, Simpson was a critic of Richard J. Daley. The two first butted heads early into Simpson's tenure as an alderman, when, on July 27, 1971, he questioned Daley's proposed appointment of Thomas Keane Jr, son of Daley's City Council floor leader, alderman Thomas E. Keane, to the city's Zoning Board of Appeals. He questioned the conflict of appointing Keane Jr., vice-president of Arthur Rubloff & Co., one of the city's largest real estate firms. There were other instances where heated arguments erputed between Simpson and Daley.
Simpson established a Ward Assembly for the 44th Ward. This was a form of direct democracy within the ward, which was dismantled after the Democratic machine later regained control of the 44th Ward seat. It provided a citizen mandate on how he would cast votes in the City Council.
Simpson was reelected alderman in 1975.
One of the pieces of legislation Simpson managed to pass as an alderman was an ordinance which would prevent banks and insurance companies that do business with the city from practicing redlining.
In 1978, Milton Rakove, a professor of political science at University of Illinois at Chicago, characterized Simpson's approach to being an alderman as, " an academic idealist at loose in the arena of politics, who cannot and will not make the compromises a true politician must make."
Simpson opted against seeking reelection in 1979. He endorsed Bruce Young to succeed him, who won election.
Post-aldermanic career
Simpson has continued to teach as a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, currently serving as head of the political science department. He has been a Great Cities Schlar and a Humanities Institute Fellow at UIC.Simpson has also become a respected political analyst. He was, for three years, a monthly op-ed columnist for the Chicago Journal, and was subsequently a monthly columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times.
In 1979, Simpson served as an advisor on the mayoral transition team of Jane Byrne. He also served on the mayoral transition team of Harold Washington in 1983.
Simpson was involved in a number of political campaigns in the 1980s, such as the campaign of Ron Sable for Simpson's former 44th Ward aldermanic seat.
Simpson endorsed Timothy C. Evans in the 1989 Chicago mayoral special election.
Simpson was involved in Woody Bowman's campaign for Illinois Comptroller in 1990. Simpson also worked on both the unsuccessful 1990 Cook County State's Attorney campaign of Ray Smith and the successful 1990 campaign of Jack O'Malley for the same office. Simpson subsequently served on David Orr's transition team for Cook County Clerk as well as Jack O'Malley's transition team for Cook County State's Attorney in 1990.
Simpson was twice an unsuccessful candidate for United States congress. He ran against Dan Rostenkowski in the Democratic primary for the redrawn 5th congressional district in 1992. He won approximately 43% of the vote against Rostenkowski. Rostenkowski, chairman of United States House Committee on Ways and Means, was considered among the nation's most powerful congressmen. He ran on a platform of congressional reform, including support for term limits. He also pledged to recreate a version of his 44th Ward Assembly in the congressional district. He again challenged Rostenkowski for the Democratic nomination in 1994. At the time, Rostenkowski was under grand jury investigation, and was also being challenged for the nomination by John Cullerton. In 1994, Simpson criticized Rostenkowski as corrupt and criticized him for votes such as his vote in support of extending the Hyde Amendment. He placed third behind Rostenkowski and Cullerton. His campaign platform in his bids focused on congressional reform, women's right, universal health care, economic recovery, and senior citizens issues.
For the 2000 Illinois Democratic Party presidential primary, Simpson was a alternate delegate candidate for Bill Bradley's campaign.
Simpson served on Lisa Madigan's transition team for Illinois Attorney General in 2003.
In the 2004 United States presidential election, Simpson served first as a member of the Issues Committee of Carol Moseley Braun's campaign, and subsequently as a surrogate for the John Kerry campaign.
Simpson has participated in annual studies conducted by University of Illinois at Chicago to measure how independent alderman are voting from the mayor.
After Langdon Neale retired from the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, Simpson applied in December 2015 to fill the seat. His candidacy for the position was endorsed by Danny K. Davis, Mike Quigley, Joe Moore, and David Orr. He was one of seven finalists for the position. Judge Timothy C. Evans, who was in charge of appointing Neale's replacement, ultimately chose to instead appoint Jonathan T. Swain.
Simpson was considered the earliest significant figure to support the campaign Lori Lightfoot in the 2019 Chicago mayoral election. He formally did so on August 21, 2018. Simpson helped then-candidate Lightfoot to write a plan which included putting an end to the practice of aldermanic prerogative and banning outside employment of aldermen. For a long while Simpson was considered the most prominent individual to have endorsed Lightfoot, still being considered such as late as mid-January 2019. Lightfoot would go on to be successfully elected mayor. After Lightfoot became mayor, Simpson worked to advise her on ethics reform.