In his analysis of the Nov. 6 election, Paul Green, director of the Institute for Politics at Roosevelt University, highlights a change in city voting patterns:
The "ethnic wards," where voter turnout was always huge, have declined.
"Look at the numbers! Wards #14 (Ald. Ed Burke); #23 (Lipinski family) and #36 (former powerhouse Alderman Bill Banks) all were bottom ten turnout wards. Not much better were Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan's ward (36th place) and the once Bridgeport vote bastion of the Daley family - Ward 11 (38th place)," Green writes in his analysis.
The exception was the Far Southwest Side 19th Ward, which includes Beverly and is heavily Irish. It was city's top ward in turnout with 29,416 voters.
"In short, Chicago politics now reflect a modified version of the oid Harold Washington citywide coalition," Green writes in his "2012 Illinoís State Election Anaíysís and Commentary."
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