R. Newhouse, 78; First Black Man to Run for Mayor of Chicago

Richard Newhouse, 78, a former Illinois state senator who was the first black man to run for mayor of Chicago, died April 24 of heart failure in Chicago.

Newhouse, a Democrat, represented the state’s 13th and 24th Senate districts on Chicago’s South Side during a legislative career that spanned 24 years. He opposed incumbent Mayor Richard J. Daley in the 1975 mayoral election after the city’s black leaders sought a challenger to represent them. He finished third out of the four candidates. He retired in 1991.

Newhouse grew up in Louisville, Ky., the son of two educators. While serving in the Air Force during World War II, he was at the Allied invasion of Normandy.

He later attended Boston University, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism. Before entering the University of Chicago’s law school, he briefly worked at the Chicago Defender newspaper.