Jane Byrne – 1934–

Byrne was was appointed Chicago’s head of consumer affairs by mayor Richard J. Daley in 1968. Fired in 1977 by Mayor Michael Bilandic (who had succeeded Daley upon his death), Byrne campaigned to unseat him and won election. She served from 1979–1983, when she was defeated in the Democratic primaries by Harold Washington, Chicago’s first African-American mayor.