Jane Byrne was Chicago's first and only female mayor. Her daughter Kathy says her mother died Thursday at a hospice in Chicago at age 81.
Byrne was elected in 1979 after voters blamed incumbent Mayor Michael Bilandic for the city's slow reaction to a blizzard.
Byrne's election came two years after Bilandic fired her from her post as head of the city's consumer affairs department.
The previous mayor, Richard J. Daley, appointed her to that post in 1968.
Byrne was credited with making the city more welcoming to filmmakers who made iconic movies such as "The Blues Brothers.'' She also made national headlines when she moved into a notorious housing project to draw attention to the gang violence there.
In 1983, Byrne was defeated in the Democratic primary by Harold Washington, who would go on to be the city's first black mayor.
Byrne challenged Washington again in the 1987 primary but lost. She is survived by her daughter and a grandson.
