King, Frank Wenter (the president of the Sanitary District of Chicago), John C. Black (a U.S. congressman and retired general).

[3] While Swift had originally pledged to only be an interim mayor, it quickly became evident that he intended to seek the office permanently.

Top speculative contenders included President of the Chicago Board of Education A. S. Trude, Sanitary District of Chicago President Frank Wenter (a leading "Harrisonite"), Judge Henry M. Shepard, and Congressman Allan C. Durborow Jr., and businessman and politician John Patrick Hopkins.

[3] Of those speculated Hopkins was viewed by many as the front-runner from the start, as he was "looked upon with fear and trembling by city hall Democrats.

[6] Trude gave the suspect excuse that he would not run, in part, because he believed that if he were the party's nominee that conflict of interest would have forced his brother George to resign his elected position as city attorney because that position made George an ex-officio member of the city's election commission.

Because George would presumably be replaced by a Republican (due to the makeup of the city's government and the Republican affiliation of Acting Mayor Swift), Trude argued that it would be problematic because his brother was, "about the only Democrat on that board," and he believed that the Democratic Party's interests would be harmed by ceding that representation on the election commission.

[6] John C. Black, a U.S. congressman and retired general, declared himself a candidate for the nomination, and established a campaign headquarters at the Palmer House Hotel in mid-November.

[3] By not formally entering until late in the race, Hopkins avoided receiving many direct attacks from other candidates.

[3] Hopkins demonstrated his sway with the Cleveland administration by securing his ally Washington Hesing an appointment as Postmaster of Chicago.

[3] In a last minute move, Chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party John McGillen, who supported Wenter, attempted to appoint himself chair of the convention, presumably so that he would be in a position to disqualify Hopkins delegates.

[3] After his nomination at the Democratic convention, a five-person committee was create to oversee efforts to support Hopkins' campaign.

Members of this committee included Washington Hesing and Frank Lawler (the latter of whom had opposed Hopkins' candidacy before he won the nomination).

[3] Key members from what remained of the Harrison wing of the party backed his candidacy, such as Frank Wenter and Robert Burke.

[3] Two-days before the election, the Chicago Tribune launched a last-minute surprise in an attempt to sway voters by reporting that Hopkins had assisted in securing a city contract for his nephew William A. Lyndon's firm Lyndon & Drews to extend the "Hyde Park tunnel".

[8][11][12][13] While the victory was narrow, and showed a marked decline of Democratic support from the regular mayoral election held earlier in the year, it was also a victory that was celebrated by Democrats amid a downturn that had occurred in the party's electoral fortunes amid the nationwide economic downturn.