The political career of Mustafa Sarigul, the main opposition candidate for Istanbul’s 2014 mayoral election, illustrates the factionalized nature of Turkish politics—and particularly of its second largest party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP). This paper uses Sarigul’s biography, drawing on and contextualizing his recent memoirs to demonstrate what are, too often, generalizations about Turkish politics. Like many Turks, Sarigul was born in rural Turkey, migrating to Istanbul in the mid-1960s. By becomming an activist in the CHP, which ran Istanbul in the 1970s, Sarigul found employment and connections. During the years following the 1980 coup, Sarigul embraced the capitalist spirt of the neo-liberal Ozal era, focusing his energies on developing a business empire. His election to the Turkish parliament in 1987 drew him into both important debates (such as constitutional reform) and political battles (as various factions on the Turkish left struggled for influence). Once again out of office during the 1990s, Sarigul become increasingly rich and influential in the politics of Istanbul’s Sisli municipality. His election as Sisli mayor in 1999 was due to his excellent skill at retail politics and the shocking corruption of his competitors. During his first term as mayor, a financial crisis discredited many of the country’s most powerful politiains and helped usher in Turkey’s current ruling-party, the Justice and Development Party. Sarigul weathered the stormy political currents of the early 2000s and was reelected in 2004 with an even greater portion of the vote—the greatest, in fact, of any CHP mayor in the country. His impressive showing convinced him to challenge the CHP leader, Deniz Baykal. The ensuing leadership struggle (and the violently climactic party congress that resulted) illustrate the ways in which party leaders can fend off challenges and discpline their intra-party opponents, thereby making clear what are often abstract statements about Turkey’s “leader-dominated” parties. By focusing on the experience of a single politian, this paper seeks to both bring to attention a fascinating individual and also highlight broader themes in Turkish politics.