Election Day: Rahm Holds Big Lead

Written by FrumForum News on Tuesday February 22, 2011

ABC News reports:

On a last-minute swing through Chicago neighborhoods, mayoral front-runner Rahm Emanuel ran smack into supporters of his rival, former senator Carol Moseley Braun.

As he entered Chicago's Chicken and Waffles on the city's south side, Emanuel was greeted with shouts of "Carol, Carol, Carol…"

But some of Braun's prominent supporters, including Rev. Jesse Jackson and U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, shook hands with the former White House chief of staff as he sat down to eat.

Even Braun's most ardent backers know she is unlikely to survive today's mayoral election. The latest polls show Emanuel far out in front, trailed by longtime city official Gery Chico. If no candidate wins a majority, the top two vote-getters square off in a runoff election April 5.

Since Mayor Richard Daley announced he would not seek a record seventh term, Emanuel has led the pack in polling and fund-raising, amassing more than $12 million in campaign contributions. An attempt by Rev. Jackson and others to solidify African-American support behind Braun has largely fizzled as the former senator's campaign has launched an aggressive TV ad campaign comparing his hardscrabble youth growing up near the old city stockyards to Emanuel's comfortable upbringing in a north shore suburb.

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Category: The Feed