In the 24th district on Chicago's south side, after coming in fourth in the primary, independent candidate Michael Shakman filed a lawsuit in federal court.
He sought an injunction to prevent the city from requiring its workers to campaign for his opponents as a condition of their patronage hiring.
[5] The president of the convention was Samuel W. Witwer, an attorney from Kenilworth, who for that reason has sometimes been called "the father of the Illinois constitution".
[4] The vice presidents of the convention were Elbert S. Smith of Decatur, Thomas G. Lyons of Chicago, and John Alexander of Virden.
However, he prevailed by a strong margin over his sole opponent, Betty Howard of St. Charles, who received only 29 votes from the floor.
[12] Seventy-two downstate counties voted against the constitution, but strong majorities in the Chicago area allowed it to pass.