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 Emanuel, 55, who has spent millions of dollars on television and
radio ads, was well ahead of Garcia, 58, a former state senator and
alderman, in a poll released on Sunday by Chicago-based polling
company Ogden & Fry. Emanuel had 51.3 percent to Garcia's 33 percent
in the poll. The poll was conducted April 4 of 972 likely voters
with a margin of error of 3.2 percent.
Emanuel, former aide to President Barack Obama, failed to get more
than 50 percent of the vote in a first round of voting on Feb. 24,
and Garcia came in second among five contenders. It was the first
time since the nation's third-largest city started having
non-partisan mayoral elections in 1995 that an incumbent failed to
win in the first round.
Emanuel, who has been criticized for closing 50 public schools,
violent crime and what some call an arrogant manner, has fought to
rehabilitate himself with voters. He acknowledged in television ads
that he can be abrasive, but said he fights for Chicago.
 Emanuel has attacked Garcia, a fellow Democrat, for not having a
plan to deal with the city's fiscal problems which include a budget
deficit expected to grow to $1.2 billion by next year due to public
pension payments.
Garcia, a Mexican immigrant, has knocked Emanuel for being a mayor
for the rich and downtown, and has said he would listen to the
concerns of residents in the city's low-income neighborhoods.
Political analysts said Emanuel seems poised to win, but it could be
close, depending on turnout. A big turnout would favor the
challenger.
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Garcia is banking on union support, including the powerful Chicago
Teachers Union, to get out the vote. Turnout has been strong in
early voting - more than 142,300 compared with less than 90,000
before the February election.
"The mayor is still running negative ads. Often you run positive ads
in the last days," said Thom Serafin, a political analyst. "He wants
to be certain. They're both battling it out until the last minute."
Republican analyst Chris Robling said Garcia hurt himself by not
having better answers on budget questions, and Emanuel was able to
exploit it.
"It looks like Rahm has weathered the storm," said Robling.
"Anything can happen. Lightning can strike."
(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski)
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