1881 Chicago mayoral election

The Chicago mayoral election of 1881 was held on April 5, saw the incumbent mayor, Democrat Carter Harrison Sr., defeat Republican Candidate John M. Clark. Harrison won a majority of the vote with a nearly twelve point margin of victory.

The election took place on April 5. Unlike in the previous mayoral election, the Socialist Labor Party's nominee did not have much of an impact.

Harrison's Republican opponent, John M. Clark was a Chicago alderman that had been elected to the Chicago City Council two years earlier.

Harrison's sizable victory came despite the fact that Republicans had carried the city in the 1880 elections by a similar vote margin.