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 Emanuel, 55, who has spent millions of dollars on television and
radio ads in his bid for re-election, was leading by about 56
percent of the vote to 44 percent for Garcia with 86 percent of
precincts reporting, according to the city's Board of Election
Commissioners. Turnout was 44 percent.
Over a six-week-long non-partisan race, the battle between Democrats
Emanuel and Garcia became a symbol for a national divide between the
party's moderates and the less well-funded progressive wing.
Once an aide to former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and Barack
Obama, Emanuel finished first among five candidates in February, but
did not get the 50 percent of the vote needed to win the nonpartisan
election outright. Garcia, 58, a Cook County commissioner and a
former state senator and alderman, finished second.
Garcia said he had called Emanuel to concede.
Emanuel, who has been criticized for closing 50 public schools, as
well as for violent crime and for what some call an arrogant manner,
fought to rehabilitate himself with voters. He acknowledged in
television ads that he can be abrasive, but said he fights for
Chicago.
"Rahm may be a jerk but this is not a personality contest. It's
about who can lead this city forward," said Alison Street, 46, a
manager at a nonprofit organization, speaking at a polling place.
"Rahm has a plan."
Emanuel attacked Garcia for lacking ideas 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.
Kythzia Jurado, 40, a graphic designer and Garcia supporter, wiped
away tears over his defeat.
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"My main concern is that Rahm will continue to ignore the
neighborhoods and focus on downtown," Jurado said.
Another Garcia supporter, Marco Camacho, a public school teacher,
said he is worried that the city will continue to see a depletion of
school resources and that teachers will strike again, as they did in
2012.
But Dan Evola, 24, an Emanuel supporter and school custodian, said
that the closed schools were bad and needed to be shut down.
Don Rose, a political consultant and adviser to Garcia, said Emanuel
called upon Garcia for a budget plan, when he lacked one himself.
“Emanuel has to come up with a plan to get us out of the financial
hole he helped put us in,” Rose said.
(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski; Additional reporting by Tracy
Rucinski, P.J. Huffstutter, Suzannah Gonzales and Agnieszka
Zielinska; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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