The 1895 elections had produced a Republican mayor and a Republican majority in the City Council, both of whom Charles Tyson Yerkes would fight in his efforts to construct the Loop during the Chicago Traction Wars. Kenna, recouping his forces in preparation for the 1897 race, saw that Coughlin would serve as a vital tool for Yerkes, and arranged for an alliance between him and Powers. As the 1st ward contained the locations of most of the targets of boodling, including the Loop, Coughlin found himself sponsoring most of the corrupt measures. However, Powers had betrayed Coughlin by December, collaborating with Yerkes and the Republican majority to the exclusion of Coughlin and introducing most of Yerkes's ordinances. Coughlin and Kenna took their revenge on Powers by defeating his bid for the chair of the Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee in favor of free silverite Tommy Gahan. Emboldened by this victory Coughlin introduced an ordinance to grant the General Electric Company a streetcar franchise that included Jackson Street, a valuable street that would fetch a high price from Yerkes, passing the ordinance over Mayor George Bell Swift's veto.