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Richard Michael Daley (born April 24 , 1942 ) has been Mayor Of Chicago since 1989 . He is the fourth child and eldest son of former Mayor Richard J. Daley and Eleanor "Sis" Daley , originally from Bridgeport , a Chicago neighborhood located just Southwest of the Chicago Loop . Daley graduated from De La Salle Academy and earned a law degree from DePaul University College Of Law . Daley previously served in the Illinois State Senate during the 1970s and then from 1980 to 1989 as State's Attorney for Cook County . In 1983 he made his first run for mayor, losing in a 3-way Democratic primary against Congressman Harold Washington and incumbent Jane Byrne , but setting the stage for his future successful run. He won the office in 1989 after defeating incumbent Mayor Eugene Sawyer in the primary, and Timothy Evans and Edward Vrdolyak in the general election. Daley proved to be a uniter, although not always clear of controversy. He has taken after his father in making civic improvement a high priority, announcing the desire to turn the entire Chicago lakefront into a park. Like his father, Daley is also known for being one of the most powerful and influential figures in Illinois politics, and the center of a Political Machine that is deeply entrenched in the state's Democratic Party. Daley has drawn attacks for his controversial closing of Meigs Field , an Airport for small aircraft located on the Chicago lakefront, shortly after he was re-elected on February 25 , 2003 for a fifth term with 79% of the vote in a four-candidate race. This involved him ordering the demolition of the runway in the darkness of night without approval from the city council and without giving the FAA prior notice. This illegal act resulted in the city being fined US$33,000 (the maximum then allowed by law) by the FAA. Daley also has drawn criticism for Chicago's Hired Trucking Scandal . The Chicago Tribune recently conducted a poll that cites that 70% of Chicagoans believe that Mayor Daley had prior knowledge of corruption before the scandal broke. Although support for Daley is no longer as deep as it once was, it has grown considerably wider. Daley's election in 1989 can be attributed largely to his Pluralities in wards on the city's Northwest and Southwest Sides, generally the more conservative areas of the city. In 1989, Daley's pluralities in his 15 highest vote-getting wards (out of 50) accounted for 264% of his citywide plurality. This means that support for Daley was incredibly concentrated in these wards. In 2003, Daley's pluralities in his top 15 wards accounted for just 57% of his city-wide plurality. This signifies much broader support. If support for Daley were uniformly distributed throughout the city's 50 wards, we would expect each set of 15 wards to deliver around 30% of Daley's total plurality (+/- a few percentage points due to population differences between wards). If he remains in office, Daley will break his father's record for time as mayor on December 25 , 2010 . On November 30 , 2004 , Daley's son Patrick announced that he has joined the U.S. Army as an enlistee. Patrick is Daley's only living son. His second son, Kevin, was 33 months old when he died of complications of Spina Bifida in 1981 . An April 2005 issue of Time Magazine ranked Daley as one of the five best current mayors of large US cities. Mayor Daley is a tireless supporter of Gun Control ,with a de facto ban on handguns in Chicago. {Link without Title} Announcing the goal of making Chicago the "greenest city in America" Mayor Daley is helping create initiatives to increase Green Roof usage within the city. Chicago City Hall 's own rooftop, completed in 2001, being a pilot of that program.
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