The Democratic nomination went the Carter Harrison Jr.. Harrison was the son of late mayor Carter Harrison Sr. Considered to be young and charismatic, and the namesake of his popular father, in 1896 a number of political actors began to court Harrison as a potential mayoral candidate for 1897. In 1896 the Harrison Club, which had been founded by his father at the start of the decade in the hopes of forming the base of a political machine, but which had gone defunct following his fathers' assassination, was revived. During his pursuit of the nomination, Harrison aligned himself with William Jennings Bryan, 1896 Democratic presidential nominee. Harrison's potential candidacy began to accrue the backing of political players of the Chicago Democratic Party scene. Chief among these was Robert Emmett "Bobby" Burke, who abandoned his initial support for the candidacy of Superior Court of Cook County judge John Barton Payne in order to back Harrison. John Barton Payne was broadly-liked, but did not arouse strong enthusiasm, and was criticized by some Democrats for his tepid support of William Jennings Bryan's presidential candidacy. Payne ultimately abandoned his plans to run after being discouraged by the greatly enthusiastic response which Harrison received for his opening speech at the January 8, 1897 Jackson Day Celebration. Another challenger to Harrison was A.S. Trude. Trude, whose long political service had been admired by John Peter Altgeld, unsuccessfully sought Atgeld's endorsement. He ultimately withdrew as well. Atgeld backed Harrison after Trude's withdrawal. At the city's Democratic Party nominating convention, Harrison faced no open opposition. Harrison's former challenger Trude introduced Harrison's name for nomination by acclamation.
Republican
The Republican Party nominated Nathaniel C. Sears, a judge on the Superior Court of Cook County. Sears was the first resident of Edgewater to run for mayor. Sears was selected as a compromise candidate in an attempt to avoid a potentially divisive fight between the leading candidates that had sought the nomination.
The Socialist Labor Party nominated John Glambeck. Glambeck was a clerk and the editor of the Arbejderen paper, a mouthpiece of the party.. Glambeck had been involved in the party, including having previously served as a delegate to the party's 1893 national convention.
Independent candidates
Incumbent alderman John Maynard Harlan ran for mayor as an independent Republican. Harlan was the son of then-sitting Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United StatesJohn Marshall Harlan. Washington Hesing resigned his position as Chicago's postmaster to run for mayor as an independent Democrat. Less notable candidates also running as independents were Frank Howard Collier and J. Irving Pearce, Jr.
General election
The election was contentious, with four major candidates and numerous minor candidates. The Chicago Traction Wars were a prominent concern in the election. Throughout the election, Harrison was the apparent frontrunner. As a result, he received the most attacks from opponents. Opponents sought to paint him as a machine politician, as in the pocket of streetcar company, as a opponent of civil service reform, and as a "puppet" of Robert Burke and other career politicians. Reformists voiced alarm that the Democratic slate included William Loeffler as its City Clerk nominee. Harrison's campaign was well organized, and benefited from the disunity of Republicans. Appealing to citizen's concerns regarding the developments of the Chicago Traction Wars, John Maynard Harlan advocated for regulation of the city's streetcar systems. He supported municipal ownership of streetcars. Harlan received what effectively amounted to an unofficial endorsement from the Muninicipal Voters' League. Hesing had begun preparing for his campaign in the autumn of 1896. He ran on a markedly liberal platform which proposed a mayoral administration modeled after that of Detroit mayor Hazen Pingree. Hesing advocated for civil service reform, an end to machine politics, traction law revision, and the use of vacant lots by the poor for the purposes of growing beans and vegetables. Despite his reformist platform, Hesing did not receive sizable backing from the city's reformers, who instead flocked to the candidacy of Harlan. However, very late in the campaign, Hesing did receive a lukewarm statement of support signed by a number of prominent gold standard-supporting Democrats. By the end of the race, it had become apparent that Harrison and Harlan were the frontrunners to win. The second-place finish by Municipal Voters League reformer John Maynard Halran evidenced the strength of the independent pro-reform vote in Chicago.
