The Chicago Way: Democratic state lawmaker from Chicago allegedly recorded taking a bribe. Gets 76 percent of the vote.

It probably helped him at the polls.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A Democratic state lawmaker from Chicago charged last week with accepting a bribe overwhelmingly won his party's primary on Tuesday, reinforcing the reputation of the nation's third-largest city for turning a blind eye to corruption.

Derrick Smith, appointed a year ago to fill a vacancy in the Illinois House of Representatives, was leading with 76 percent of the vote with more than 80 percent of the ballots counted, according to the Chicago Board of Elections.

Federal prosecutors said they recorded Smith accepting $7,000 in cash from a government informant in exchange for writing a letter supporting a state grant for a day care center.

Smith was indicted by a grand jury, arrested, and freed on bond. He has yet to enter a plea in the case. If convicted, Smith could face a maximum of ten years in prison.