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He created urban ministries in New York, Cleveland, and Detroit before coming to Chicago in 1960 as executive director of the Community Renewal Society; as the head of CRS he gave John McDermott the green light and financial support to create the Chicago Reporter.
Calling himself an agent for change, Benedict ran with the support of Mayor Harold Washington. In reality, Benedict and his ragtag collection of independents didn’t stand a chance against Mell’s army of city, state, and county patronage workers. Benedict ran fairly well in the Lathrop Homes and the precincts around the Logan Memorial, but other than that Mell crushed him, racking up about 77 percent of the vote. Not long after the election, residents who lived in the mansions along Logan Boulevard, where Benedict had strong support, asked Mell to resurface their street. He told them to ask Don Benedict to pave it. If nothing else, Benedict got under Mell’s skin.
