Incumbent Mayor Jane Byrne, who had served since April 16, 1979, faced a primary challenge from Cook County State's Attorney Richard M. Daley and from U.S.

Washington defeated Byrne and Daley in the Democratic primary in February 1983, winning by nearly 3 points.

During the city's Democratic and Republican primaries (held on February 22)[1] 77.49% of registered voters voted.

[8] While Byrne had presented herself as a protegee of former mayor Richard J. Daley in 1979, she now blamed him for many of the city's financial shortcomings.

[6] When Daley officially launched his campaign in September 1982, polls showed him ahead of or tied with Byrne.

During a July 26, 1982, event where prominent figures in the Black community intended to endorse his mayoral candidacy, Washington declared in his speech that the coming race was about "the plan, not the man.

[16] In the aftermath of this, activists registered more than 100,000 new voters, and with Daley and Byrne competing with each other, there was a credible path for Washington.

[18][19] The fact that neither Byrne nor Daley were able to consolidate the white electorate around their candidacy provided Washington an opportunity to win a plurality of the overall vote.

[6] While Byrne and Daley received numerous white endorsements, including from national figures such as Ted Kennedy and Walter Mondale, the only white elected officials to endorse Washington represented predominately black areas.

Washington condemned the remarks and Byrne was dismissive of making race an issue.

[23] In the closing days of the campaign, Byrne was on the defense, particularly from attacks being lodged by Daley.

[6] 1.2 million Chicagoans went to polls to cast their ballot, noted then as the largest turnout since 25 years earlier in 1958.

"[6] Epton was ultimately unopposed on the Republican primary ballot[44] after candidates Ralph G. Medly,[45] William Arthur Murray,[46] and Raymond Wardingley[47] saw their names removed from the ballot due to issues with their petitions.

After Washington's primary victory, a backlash began to emerge among white voters.

[52] Edward Vrdolyak, chair of the Cook County Democratic Party, offered only tepid support for Washington, and allegedly maintained contact with the Epton campaign.

[55] He vowed not to make personal attacks and spoke highly of Washington, whom he had served in the state legislature with.

High-profile figures such as Republican Senator Paul Laxalt (chairman of the RNC) campaigned for Epton.

[57] Washington and his team opted to ignore the initial attacks under the logic that Chicago Republicans were essentially a non-factor.

However, with time, this strategy would shift as much of the city's Democratic establishment refused to endorse Washington.

[60] In addition to a lack of support, Byrne had hoped to avoid a court battle with the Chicago Board of Elections over the simplification of write-in procedures.

Epton made frequent reference to Washington's past legal troubles, including a failure to pay his taxes and a brief suspension of his law license.

[64] Epton's ads used the slogan "Epton- Before it's too late", which capitalized on the fears of white voters.

[66][67] On March 27, an incident occurred at St. Pascal's Catholic Church on the northwest side where Washington and former Vice President Walter Mondale were accosted by protestors.

[70] In the last days of the campaign, a flier circulated accusing Washington of being a child molester.

Washington delivered a speech in response criticizing Epton's character, which earned applause and cheers from a predominantly white audience.