Complex sentence: He placed first in field of eight candidates vying for four seats; at the time, the top vote getter also received appointment as the city's commissioner of accounts and finance, and Dirksen held both posts from 1927 to 1931.
Split into simpler sentences: He placed first in field of eight candidates vying for four seats. At the time, the top votegetter also received appointment as the city's commissioner of accounts and finance, and Dirksen held both posts from 1927 to 1931.