[3] In what was regarded to be a major upset to the Chicago Democratic political machine, Jane Byrne succeeded in pulling off an insurgent challenge to incumbent mayor Michael Bilandic.

[4] Byrne, whom Bilandic had previously fired from the post of the city's Commissioner of Consumer Sales in 1977,[4][5] had launched an underdog challenge to Bilandic, who had received the backing of the Cook County Democratic Party.

[2] Her campaign manager was Don Rose, who had previously served as the Chicago press secretary for Martin Luther King Jr.[2] She attacked alderman such as Edward M. Burke and Ed Vrdolyak as an "evil cabal" who ran the city's government.

[7] Byrne had lambasted Bilandic's government's slow response to the 1979 Chicago blizzard, criticism which was greatly credited with fueling her upset victory.

[14][15] Democrat Byrne had the support of such trade unions as the Chicago Federation of Labor and United Auto Workers.

[15] He argued that, despite having support of trade unions, Byrne was "an anti-labor, anti-strike candidate".

[15] Pulley, himself a member of United Steelworkers 1066 at U.S. Steel's Gary Works, argued, "If we don't act to establish a political party, the unions will be destroyed.