Raymond Wardingley

Raymond G. Wardingley (February 13, 1935 – October 29, 2024) was an American perennial candidate who many times, unsuccessfully, sought office in Chicago, Illinois. He is most famous for having been the Republican nominee in the 1995 Chicago mayoral election, and for having previously performed as a clown under the name "Spanky the Clown".

The embarrassment that many in the Republican party felt about Wardingley having been their party's 1995 standard-bearer in the Chicago mayoral election has been cited as a reason why a Republican-led Illinois General Assembly and Republican governor passed into law legislation that made all subsequent Chicago mayoral elections nonpartisan.

Early life Wardingley was born at Cook County Hospital on February 13, 1935, to Albert and Thelma Wardingley. He was the sixth child born of ten children. He later attended Goodman Theatre School. He also would sometimes fill-in at their games as their mascot Stanley Sting. By the time of his 1995 mayoral campaign, he had retired from clowning. He was never elected to any of the numerous offices he sought.

Politically, he identified himself as a Reagan Republican. From 2005, he was a member of the Illinois Right Coalition.

Mayoral campaigns Wardingley unsuccessfully ran in the Republican primary elections for the 1979, 1983, 1987. In 1983, he failed to get on the ballot due to issues with his ballot petition. He also once ran as a write-in in a general election, garnering only a single vote. This was Wardingley's fourth mayoral campaign. However, his victory in the primary was nonetheless considered surprising. His platform included abolishing the Chicago Board of Education, eliminating the employment-based head tax, eliminating desegregation busing, and eliminating bilingual education. This has been viewed as the impetus for state Republicans leading the charge to reform Chicago's mayoral election system from a partisan election to a nonpartisan election. This was passed by the then-Republican controlled Illinois Senate and Illinois House of Representatives and signed by Republican governor Jim Edgar later in 1995.

1999 aldermanic campaign In 1999, Wardingley ran against incumbent Chicago Alderman Ginger Rugai for her 19th ward seat on the Chicago City Council.

U.S. congressional campaigns Wardingley ran in 2000 for Illinois's 1st congressional district, winning the Republican nomination unopposed.

In 2006 he ran as the Republican nominee against incumbent Democrat Dan Lipinski in Illinois's 3rd congressional district. In 2006, Republican leadership expressed embarrassment that the only two candidates running in the Republican primary were Wardingley and white supremacist perennial candidate Arthur J. Jones. On the campaign trail that year, Wardingley refused to shake hands with Jones, saying, "I won't shake the hand that represents the same thing Hitler represented". but was removed from the ballot.

As a candidate, Wardingley expressed support for a "FairTax".

2008 state senate campaign In 2008, he ran against Emil Jones III for the 14th district Illinois Senate seat. The district was heavily Democratic.

Electoral history Chicago mayor 1979

1987 data needed

1995

Chicago City Council

Uncertified results published in the Chicago Tribune on February 24, 1999

United States House of Representatives