The Grind:
With the Chicago mayoral election less than three weeks away, three out of five voters disapprove of the job Mayor Lori Lightfoot has done in her first term; more than half hold an unfavorable opinion of her, and 71% think the city is on the wrong track.
And yet, Lightfoot is in a virtual three-way tie for the lead with Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia and former school board chief Paul Vallas. Garcia, the odds-on favorite, is at 20%, with Vallas at 18% and Lightfoot trailing at 17%. Significantly, 18% of likely voters are still undecided, and the poll by Chicago Sun-Times/WBEZ/Telemundo Chicago/NBC5 has a margin of error of 4%.
The Details:
That means that even the fourth-place finisher in the poll — entrepreneur Willie Wilson at 12% — could squeak into the runoff election scheduled for April 4 between the two top vote-getters.
All three of the frontrunners have first-class organizations capable of getting their supporters to the polls. But Lightfoot has a reservoir of passionate supporters who see her as a slightly less radical alternative than Garcia.
Last month, a survey showed Lightfoot in fourth place with just 9% of the vote. At that time, the Lightfoot campaign was saying their internal numbers were much better than that. The campaign released a statement yesterday confirming it.
“As we’ve shared transparently, our internal polling paints a distinctly different picture,” the campaign’s statement said. “We fully anticipate winning this election, particularly once the voters learn all about the extremely troubling histories of Mr. Vallas and Mr. Garcia. Mayor Lightfoot has always been underestimated by pundits, and apparently, today is no different. See you on April 4.” Read more…