Rahm Emanuel

Emanuel Could Win Chicago Mayor's Race On First Ballot

Jon Terbush | February 11, 2011, 10:46AM

Rahm Emanuel

Rahm Emanuel's toughest vote in the Chicago mayoral race may be behind him. Since the Illinois Supreme Court overruled an appellate court and placed Emanuel back on the ballot, new polls show him dominating the field and hovering around the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff election.

In a Tribune/WGN poll released today, 49% of Chicagoans said they intended to vote for Emanuel, giving him an enormous 30 point lead on his closest challenger, Gery Chico, the former Chicago Board of Education president. A survey conducted by Chicago's ABC affiliate pegged Emanuel's support even higher, as it found him leading Chico by 40 points, 54% to 14%.

A candidate must receive at least half of the vote to win the February 22 election outright. If no candidate reaches that threshold, the top two vote-getters will face off in a special election in April.

Read more »