Sentence Correction

When he had run for mayor of Cleveland in 1968, Carl Stokes won the election, proving that an African American candidate can be elected in a city in which African Americans constitute a minority of the population.

When he had run for mayor of Cleveland in 1968,
He ran for mayor of Cleveland in 1968, and
Running, in 1968, for mayor of Cleveland,
When he ran for mayor of Cleveland in 1968,
In 1968 he had run for mayor of Cleveland, and

source: kaplan
my doubt: the proclaimed answer is D . i want to understand as what is wrong with C
thanks

First of all, the sentence is talking about past.

Second, do we need HAD here? NO WAY.....sentence is just saying Carl RAN for mayor elections and he WON.

SO A & E are out.

B) He ran for mayor of Cleveland in 1968, and Carl Stokes won the election,...

What is antecedent for HE?

AND is used to join 2 independent clauses and there must be a valid subject for each clause.


C) Awkward construction!

NOTE: COMMA + VERBing modifiers follow on from the tense of the main working verb to which they are attached.


That means CARL was RUNNING for the mayor when he WON the election.....

Does the order of events (run & won) looks fine? NO!


he participated (RUN) in election is an action that was completed in past....so no need for RUNNING.


D) Modifier in the beginning looks good!

OA: D

aditya8062 wrote: my doubt: the proclaimed answer is D . i want to understand as what is wrong with C

Generally, running for office involves a long series of actions: filing the required papers, developing a campaign platform, making speeches, etc.

C: Running for mayor, Carl Stokes won the election.
D: When he ran for mayor, Carl Stokes won the election.

Both of these options imply that Carl Stokes won the election AT THE SAME TIME as he performed the long series of actions above.
This sequence seems illogical.
I would ignore this SC.